


A New Beginning

by Sofi_Weiny



Category: Shaman King
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Dysfunctional Family, Fights, Gen, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-01-19 01:56:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 49,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12400737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sofi_Weiny/pseuds/Sofi_Weiny
Summary: A year after the Shaman Fight, Yoh was still grieving for what happened. He visited a place to find solace only to find the unexpected and later on encountered a friend that he had never seen in a long time. Was everything his imagination? Or is his brother really alive after all?





	1. In Memory of Hao Asakura

It was only 4 a.m. in the morning. As he walked through the silent night thinking about the horrifying day he had gone through a few months ago, he felt that guilt washing over him again. He really hoped that it was just a nightmare yet he knew that it was fultile. While he was walking, he suddenly felt that there was someone else that was walking behind him.

He abruptly stopped and turned around. There was no one else other than himself and a huge tree. He continued with his walk and heard footsteps from behind and turned behind him. Again he saw nothing. He knew he felt something. Somehow it felt familiar but at the same time it felt frightening. He continued with his walk again and this time he walk faster.

At the same time, the footsteps were also pacing up as if they we're chasing him. He began running and the footsteps are still heard very clearly in his ears. He turned around only to see a demon behind him.

'WAHHHHHH! A DEMON!'

He ran with all his might and blamed himself for not bringing his guardian spirit with him. The demon managed to grasp its leg and he fell down on the floor. The demon held its left hand and was about to kill him with its sharp and long clawed finger when the demon suddenly roared in pain. The boy quickly escape from his grasp and without knowing it the demon was on fire and in a few moments all that remained were ashes of the demon and thick smoke covering the area. Then, he saw a silhouette of a person approaching to him. He knows too well whose silhouette it belonged to. Even so, he couldn't believe his own eyes.

'You really are something…to think that you would actually walk leisurely with a demon? You're really courageous Yoh…' He smiled mischievously at him….

'HAOOOO!'

Yoh stared incredulously at the person who was now standing in front of him.

 **'It can't be him...it can't be…'**  he thought to himself.

'What do you mean it can't be? I'm standing here and reading your minds alright…' the person addressed frowned at him.

'But….but I thought you are supposed to be dead! I killed you with my very own hands!' he grimaced at the memory and felt guilt washing over him as he ended his statement.

'How naive…you didn't change at all since the last time I saw you in the tournament…' Hao smirked at him before his expression turned solemn. 'It's all in the past already so just forget about it and continue with your living already…'

It was silent for a few seconds.

'...What did you just say? A-Aren't you angry at what I did?' Yoh stared at him in confusion. Hao shrugged.

'You heard me…anyway you better leave now or you are going to be in trouble soon…' Hao said as he began to disappear.

'Wait! You haven't answered my questions yet! HAOOO!'

* * *

'ARGGGHHHH… WHAT ARE YOU DOING!' Yoh exclaimed. He was now drenched and awake. He froze when he saw the person who was standing in front of him. It was a blonde haired girl and she was wearing a black dress. She was holding a bucket in her hands. She had just poured water on him. A warrior spirit was standing behind the girl. He looked at Yoh warily for he knew what was coming.

'What did you say Yoh?' the girl gave him a murderous glare. Then, a loud slap is heard within the area of Funbari Onsen.

* * *

'Ouch! That really hurts…' Yoh touched his cheek while holding a long list in his other hands.

'You shouldn't be sleeping during your practice. It's dangerous especially when Anna is around the inn. You'll get slapped by her in an instant.' his guardian spirit told him.

'But the Shaman Fight is already over. And why do I have to be the one to do the grocery shopping?' he held up the list and sighed.

-Flashback-

'Since you sleep and skipped your training…I shall punish you…' Anna held up a list.

'I've already listed all the stuff that's needed…now go and buy them.'

'Eh, me again!' Anna gave him another slap and he ended up running out of the inn.

-End of flashback-

Suddenly, something came up to his mind.

'Amidamaru…lets go somewhere else first…I want to show you something…'

'Go where?' the person addressed asked.

'Just follow me…' Yoh replied.

They both went into a forest pretty far away from town and arrived at a clearing land with a grave stone written 'Hao Asakura'.

'Keep this a secret between me and you alright?' Yoh told his guardian spirit.

'Yoh-dono he doesn't deserve this…he is a m-'

'He is still my brother and I think he is only a murderer because he is too lonely and people are too frightened of him that they betrayed him. I knew it because I saw his memories when I was within him. I knew he never wanted to do this…'

Amidamaru gaze at the grave stone for a while before turning to face his master.

'Alright…then it's a secret between just the two of us.'

'I knew I can trust you Amidamaru…' he smiled at his guardian spirit.

Then he cleaned up the grave and got everything ready. Once he is ready, he gently took off his headphones and knelt down in front of the grave and bow to it several times.

'Rest in peace Hao.'

Amidamaru floated at the side watching Yoh.

Once Yoh was done, they left the place as if nothing had happened. After finish buying the groceries, they went home.

'You're late! Where have you been?' Anna asked Yoh as soon as the door slid open.

'Umm…shopping for the ingredients you asked?' Yoh replied.

'Where's your headphones?'

'What are you talking about…Its right here-' Yoh touched his head to find that his headphone is missing.

'Eh…I was wearing it all the time except that time when I-' Yoh realised that he had left his headphones at his brother's grave.

'Uh-oh…' He thought to himself. He ran towards the direction of the door.

'Anna please wait for a moment will you…Amidamaru and I are going to take back my headpho-'

'I'm sorry Yoh-dono but I'm afraid you have to go yourself...' he said to his master as Anna had tied him up with her blue beads.

'Until you return…I shall have Amidamaru with me' Anna said sternly.

'Anna…' Yoh gave her a pleading look.

'ARE YOU TESTING MY PATIENCE?! HURRY UP!'

Yoh quickly ran out before she decided to give him a third slap. A few moments later he arrived at the forest. He was running all the way from his house. He was having difficulties in breathing. Then he slowly walked towards his brother's memorial pole and reached for his headphones which he had left. He walked slowly through the forest while listening to his favourite song. A demon then materialized out of nowhere. He made an eye contact with the demon and the next thing he knew he was running as fast as his feet could carry him.

 **'It's the same demon from before…but w-w-wasn't it just a mere dream…'**  he thought to himself.

Suddenly he collapsed to the ground. The demon had caught him by the leg and was going to kill him. Again.

 **'What am I going to do? He couldn't possibly come and help me now…he is dead already…'**  Yoh closed his eyes and braced himself when the demon suddenly roared in pain.

He opened his eyes and saw a long sword protuding out of the demon's body from behind. The demon began to disintegrate and soon there's nothing left of it.

'M-M-Matamune…' Yoh stuttered.

'Long time no see Yoh-sama…' Yoh blinked a few times.

'H-H-How on earth are you here? Aren't you supposed to have passed on? WHAT'S ON EARTH IS GOING ON?' Yoh stared at the cat incredulously.

'Don't need to get so agitated Yoh-sama…I was only here because Hao-sama told me to come and help you. Now that my job is done I'll be goin-'

'Wait! Did you just say H-H-Hao asked you to come?' his sentence was abruptly cut off by Yoh.

'Opps…I shouldn't be telling you that. Forget about what I just said.'

 **'He is alive…he is watching over me all this while without me noticing…. why hadn't I realized it sooner?'**  Yoh thought to himself.

'Anyway now that my job is done I'll be go-'

'Matamune! Please take me to him…'

'Sorry Yoh-sama but I can't do that…'

'I need to talk to him…Please let me see him…'

'It's Hao-sama's order that I can't tell you anything yet I have told you…I've already disobey his order. Now if you'll excuse me…'

'WAIT! Matamune!' the cat spirit had already disappeared from sight.

* * *

He walked around the city while contemplating about what had happened in the forest and thought about what Matamune had told him. While he was standing across the street staring blankly at the opposite side of the road, someone caught his attention. He saw his other twin looking at him in the other side of the road. He was wearing long sleeved shirt and trousers. He still wore his red glove though. As soon as the light had turned green, he rushed to the other side of the road to find his brother but he was nowhere to be seen. Finally, he gave up and returned home disappointed with himself.

'WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? YOUR FIANCEE IS ABOUT TO STARVE TO DEA-' Anna began to notice the disappointment in him as he doesn't seemed bothered by her scolding at all.

'I'm home…' he voice was so soft that Anna could hardly hear what he said. Then, he walked past her and went into the kitchen without saying anything. Ryu, Manta, Amidamaru, Horohoro, and Ren appeared from the kitchen and greeted him but he didn't reply. While eating, Yoh was silent and they began to worry. Finally, Horo Horo who couldn't bear being quiet for more than ten minutes slammed the kitchen table. Everyone startled.

'ASAKURA YOH! WHAT IS THE WRONG WITH YOU!YOU HAVE BEEN ACTING STRANGE EVER SINCE YOU CAME BACK! INSTEAD OF ACTING LIKE A STRANGER WHY DON'T YOU JUST TELL US WHAT'S BOTHERING YOU!'

'Huh?' Yoh stared at him in confusion.

'I hate to admit it but Horohoro is right. What's wrong with you today? It's as if we don't even know you anymore.' Ren responded.

'SEE! EVEN SHARK HAIRED BOY AGREED!'

'What did you call me?! Who do you think you are calling me SHARK HEAD?!' Ren lifted his Kwan Dao and pointed towards the blue haired boy. 'SO WHAT?!' Horo horo retorted. Ren got angry and stood up ready to attack Horo horo.

'Thanks for the food.' Yoh said as he had already finished having his dinner and he immediately went upstairs.

Everyone gazed at Yoh in disbelief as he went up. He had finished his dinner in less than 20 minutes. After brushing his teeth, he changed his clothes and lay on the futon. He wanted to see his brother and he wanted to talk to him. He couldn't bring himself to sleep at all.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hao was laying on the soft grass stargazing. He was wearing a long sleeved shirt and trousers which had became a habit not long ago. He knew what had happened because he had been watching over Yoh until the moment he saw him at the opposite side of the road…he didn't told Matamune about it though...

'You shouldn't have told him you know…now look at what you've done to him…' he said to his cat spirit.

'I'm really sorry that I spilled the beans Hao-sama…' Matamune stood beside his master.

'Well…what's done is done so there is no use thinking too much about it. Though I am afraid Yoh wouldn't think that way…' Hao sighed.

'Then why not Hao-sama just go and talk to Yoh-sama? I'm sure Yoh-sama would be happy as well...'

Hao chuckled lightly.

'Easier said than done.' then he stood up and dusted off the dirt in his clothing.

'It's late already…let's go back Matamune.'

'Yes, Hao-sama...'

And they both went back into an old and abandoned shrine in the deeper part of the forest. The forest in which the memorial pole that his younger brother had carved for him resides.

* * *

 'Tick...tick...tick...RINGGGGGGG!' the clock beside Asakura Yoh's futon sounded loudly the second it struck 4 a.m. The said person sleepily opened his eyes, he groaned and turned to his other side, placing a pillow on top of his head to drown out the sound of his alarm clock. He hadn't had enough sleep yet. He was thinking too much of his twin brother last night. However, the loud banging of his door prevented him from doing so. Then, Anna's voice can be heard.

'Yoh! Wake up this INSTANT and turn off your alarm!' Anna demanded.

Yoh reluctantly woke up and turned off the alarm before heading towards the sliding door. As soon as he opened the door he was greeted by Anna's legendary left slap.

'Ouch! What was that for?!' Yoh cradled his cheek.

'It's already 4.01 a.m. in the morning so go and practice!'

Yoh groaned mentally and went to brush his teeth before going back into his room to change his clothes. After folding his futon, he went downstairs and greeted everyone before heading out of the house with Amidamaru.

* * *

'It was Saturday yet Anna wouldn't let me sleep longer…' he told Amidamaru while jogging but the person addressed didn't give him any reply. He turned to face his guardian spirit.

'What's wrong Amidamaru?' he asked his spirit.

His spirit was snapped out of his thoughts.

'Nothing…it's just….ummm….did something happened yesterday when you went back to claim your headphones? You acted really strange as soon as you returned…' his spirit looked at him questioningly.

He stopped running. The smile on his face was struck off. He stared at his guardian spirit for a moment. He wasn't sure whether he should tell him or not. He gave it a second thought before replying…

'It's nothing in particular…'

'Are you sure Yoh-dono? But you wer-'

Yoh sighed.

'I'm fine…its not that important now that I thought about it…Anyway, we better get going or I won't be able to finish my run before noon. You know that right?' he gave his spirit his trademark grin. Amidamaru felt reassured after seeing his master smiling at him.

'Yes…Yoh-dono.' and he continued running while being accompanied by his guardian spirit. He had reached his house before noon and as soon as he slid the door open he saw Anna standing in front of him holding a few envelop in her hand. Ryu, Manta, Ren and Horohoro were standing behind her and they were holding a plastic bag in their hands.

'Where are you guys going?' Yoh asked.

'We are going to buy stuff for yo-'Manta stopped when Anna shot him a withering glare. Then, she turned back to Yoh.

'Today you can have a rest from training. We'll be going out to buy groceries…'

'Groceries? I thought I have already bought all of it yesterday…'

Anna shot him a murderous glare. He gulped. His spirit looked at him warily.

'U-U-Ummm…well…I'll be going to have some fresh air outside then! Bye!' with that he rushed out of the house.

* * *

Yoh heaved a sigh of relief.

'Whheewww….that was so close…'

'Yeah…very close Yoh-dono…'

'So where are we going Yoh-dono?'

'Ummmm…errr…I'm not really sure myself…' he grinned sheepishly.

'What! b-b-but aren't you the one who walked here…'

'Somehow I just came…ehehehe…'

Amidamaru's jaws dropped. Yoh gave him a sheepish laugh. Out of a sudden, he gasped and stared at a particular direction with wide eyes. Amidamaru looked at his master questioningly...

'What's wrong Yoh-dono?'

He pointed to a direction and Amidamaru followed the direction of his finger. His eyes widened in horror and disbelief…

'A-A-Amidamaru….I wasn't blind am I?' Yoh said to his spirit without shifting his gaze.

'H-H-H-Hao…he is Hao right?' he stuttered.

Standing at the opposite side of the road was his twin brother, staring at the both of them. The strangest part is that he was staring at the both of them in disbelief as well…


	2. Hao's Alive!

He walked around the place wondering where he should go…as he kept on walking, he contemplated what his spirit had told him…

**'Why not Hao-sama just go and talk to Yoh-sama? I'm sure Yoh-sama would be happy as well…'**

Would he actually be happy to see him? He thought to himself. He needed time. He needed time to think over. It was thanks to his little brother that he had finally found himself again and he wanted to thank him. Hence, he watched his younger brother from afar and he even invaded his dream to tell him not to felt guilty for what he had done. He even saved his life by sending his guardian spirit to kill the demon that threatened to take his life.

Even so, he knew that nobody will ever accept him. In truth, he never wanted to be like that. He only ended up this way because everyone thought of him in such a way. However, right after that incident, he doesn't seem hate human anymore and he decided to stop killing people.

All the while he had been living in the abandoned shrine with Matamune to avoid himself from his younger brother and his friends but when he felt bored he would either go watch over his little brother from afar or wander around the city since he had nothing to do. That was why he was now roaming in the city…

'Hmmm…why did I come here??? Hao wondered. Somehow, he just came here out of his own will. His eyes wandered around the buildings and the street. Suddenly, his eyes widened. Standing in the opposite side of the road was his younger brother with his guardian spirit beside him. They were talking with each other when they realized that he was there. Their attention was then focused on each other.

'A-A-Amidamaru…I wasn't blind am I?'

'H-H-H-Hao…he is Hao right???' Yoh stuttered.

' **DAMN IT! Out of all people why him…I wouldn't mind if it's the lunatic iron maiden or that four-eyed guy from X-Laws but why him!!! But still…how did it happened???'** he thought to himself. He didn't think he would actually meet his brother here. Then a realization dawned upon him. He realized why he had come here now…it was because of his younger brother's longing to see him. He didn't know what he was supposed to do now…he was only thinking of how to escape from here right now…

* * *

Yoh didn't know what to do…he had wanted to see his brother. He wanted it so badly and now he was standing in the opposite side of the road with him…but he didn't know what to do now that he'd seen him…

' **I need to get out of here NOW!!!'** Hao thought to himself…he began to run for that was the only thing he could think of right now …

'HAO WAIT!!!' he exclaimed but he didn't stop. He never intend to stop in the first place…Just then, the pedestrian light turned green. He quickly ran after his brother.

'Yoh-dono!' he followed his master as he ran after his brother.

'Yoh-dono! What do you think you are doing? You are supposed to be running AWAY from him, not running AFTER him! He is a MURDERER! HE ONCE TOOK AWAY YOUR SOUL!' Amidamaru reminded him.

'AND HE ONCE SAVED MY LIFE!!!' he retorted.

'What do you mean Yoh-dono?' he was shocked at his master's word.

'Yesterday I was attacked by a demon when I went to take my headphone but I was saved by Matamune. I didn't tell you because I thought you won't believe me… '

'But I thought you said Matamune already passed on! and what does that have to do with him?! Doesn't it meant that Matamune is the one who saved you?!'

'Hao brought him back and he was the one who told Matamune to save me! Matamune said that himself!!!' he said as he tried to catch up with his brother.

Amidamaru stared at the long haired shaman for a moment. He never thought that the MURDERER would actually cared for his master especially when he knew that he once absorbed his master's soul but after hearing what Yoh said, he realized something. What his master had just said might be true…

' **It was the same from back then…'** Amidamaru thought to himself.

'Yoh-dono, I once sensed Hao's presence nearby our house…'

'Then why didn't you tell me???' Yoh asked.

'Well…the truth is that I couldn't confirm that it was him because somehow, it felt different …perhaps if my guessing is correct, Hao had changed...that's probably why he cared for you now Yoh-dono…' Amidamaru stared at the long haired shaman.

A grin formed on Yoh's face.

' **He really cared for me…even Amidamaru noticed it…Onii-chan, you really have changed you know…'**

Now that he knew that his brother had changed, he had a plan on his mind. He wasn't sure whether it was going to work or not but he is willing to try. He wanted to test his brother.

 **['Damn it…stop chasing me already will you!']** Hao thought to his brother.

' **Ehhh… I thought I heard him telling me to--'**

 **['OF COURSE YOU HEARD ME!!! IT"S TELEPATHIC LINK!!! NOW GET LOST BEFORE I BURN YOU WITH MY SPIRIT OF FIRE!!!']** Hao was beginning to get annoyed. He was suffering in pain.

The injury he got from his younger brother during the last tournament hasn't fully recovered yet. Based on his current condition, he was unable to use his spirit of fire. That was why he had called Matamune back and stayed in that abandoned shrine. Right now he really regretted coming here for a walk…

' **I SWEAR IF I EVER ESCAPED FROM HERE WITHOUT BEING CAUGHT, I**   **WILL NEVER EVER COME HERE AGAIN!**  then he silently cursed himself for coming to the city. The pain was getting harder and harder to ignore…

**['Hao! Why are you running away from me? Can't we sit down and talk like that time we did in the coffee shop?']**

' **Wait…I am running??? Why did I run when I can hide! What am I thinking!!!'** he groaned mentally. He had lost his calmness just by seeing his little brother. Now that he looked around the surroundings,he realized that he wasn't at the city anymore…he knew this place…Then he realised that he was at his younger brother's housing area. He recognized the lake that he was now passing by and took a turn to the right from the main road. Then, he hid himself in a huge tree. He was panting heavily when his twin arrived on the spot. He gulped.

'HAO!!!' Yoh exclaimed. He was also gasping for air. Amidamaru looked around before turning back to his master.

'He was still somewhere around here…I can sense him…' he told his master.

* * *

 ' **Damn that samurai...'**  he gritted his teeth. He knew that his younger brother's spirit can definitely sense him and he also knew that it won't be easy to hide his presence from him in his current condition. He felt angry for he had become so weak after the fight between him and his younger brother. Yoh lowered his head in disappointment knowing that his brother won't come out of his own will.

'I have no choice but to do it then….' Yoh said softly.

' **What was he trying to do now? I had a pretty bad feeling about this…'** he thought to himself as he looked at him questioningly. Albeit Yoh had said it softly, he could hear it very clearly what he had just said. He abruptly ran away and headed back to the main road. After some time, a loud splash was heard.

' **It couldn't be…'** he mused thoughtfully. He remembered that Yoh once said that he couldn't swim.

' **He wouldn't actually jump into the lake would he? He can't swim right? Or was it just a trick that he made up to lure me out??? Yes, it must be…I must not believe it. It must be a trap…I must not believe it I must not believe it I must not believe it…'** He repeated in his mind a few times like an incantation and jumped when he heard Yoh screaming for Hao to come out and help him. He was beginning to worry about his brother. He fought the urge to rush out and save his younger brother who was now in danger. Just then, he heard that samurai spirit calling at his master.

'YOH-DONO!!!' the spirit exclaimed. That did it. He got out of his hiding place and quickly ran towards the main road when someone wrapped his arms around him from behind. Hao was surprised and stiffened by the sudden gesture. He turned behind and saw his younger brother. He wasn't drenched and he was totally fine. Hao looked at him in surprise…

'I might not know where you're hiding but I knew you would definitely come and save me when I'm in danger…' he told his brother and embraced him more tightly.

' **How did he--'** then he frowned upon realizing what had actually fell into the lake.

He saw a wooden sword pierced in front of a huge tree and one of the branches had been cut off causing it to fell into the lake. His younger brother had cut them off and screamed for help just to lure him out of his hiding place.

' **It was obviously a trap and I, Asakura Hao had fallen for it…he screamed for help and his damned spirit…'**  he blinked for a moment. That samurai spirit was nowhere to be seen. It was only him and his younger brother. Then, a realization dawned upon him. His younger brother had probably thought of him completely harmless right now. It irritated him because he thought of how weak he had become that even his younger brother dared to approach him alone. He might have considered burning him now but he was unable to use his spirit at the moment and he got more angry thinking about it. He pushed his twin away from him and Yoh fell on the floor surprised by his brother's sudden movement. He narrowed his eyes at the younger boy. The memories of his past began to come together and he felt really angry and hurt.

He was beginning to lose control of himself. He was fully aware of it and he quickly turned and walked away from his twin. He doesn't want to hurt him. He wanted time to think and he wanted to be ALONE…Apparently, it wasn't going to happen because his twin jogged to keep up with his pace.

' **This is going to be a longggg day…'** he thought to himself as he quickened his pace. His twin followed him. He grunted.

'LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY!' he glared murderously.

'Nope…I'm tagging along!' he was smiling broadly. He was really happy to see his brother again. He got even happier thinking about the previous incident. He was happy to know that his brother had cared for him and came to the rescue when he was in danger although it was just a trap to lure him out. He was also happy that his guardian spirit is willing to help him with his plan and is willing to leave him alone with Hao because as far as he knew, the last time when he was in the coffee shop with his brother he just couldn't seem to leave him with Hao alone especially knowing he was a MURDERER and once ABSORBED HIS SOUL…

Suddenly, Hao stumbled on the floor, falling to his knees. His vision was becoming blurry and he was in miserable pain. Yoh saw the incident and he immediately dashed towards him. He looked at his brother worriedly. He held his waist to support him but he held up his hands suddenly when his fingers brushed over something wet. He nearly dropped his brother in the process. Then, he saw his hands stained with blood and there was blood dripping from his brother's waist.

'WE NEED A DOCTOR!' he said to his brother as he looked around to find someone to help him.

Hao stared at him with unfocused eyes. He placed his hand on his forehead. His vision was blurry and he was feeling dizzy. Yoh was desperately trying to rack his brains out when a thought crossed his mind.

'AMIDAMARU!!!' he exclaimed. By the time his guardian spirit appeared, the older shaman was already unconscious in his arms...

* * *

His fingers twitched and his onyx eyes began to open. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before he slowly rose up from the futon. He could still feel the pain running through his body.

'Where am I???' he questioned himself.

He looked around the place and tried to recall what had happened before he lost his consciousness. He remembered seeing his younger brother at the opposite side of the road and ran away from him but ended up getting caught thanks to his stupid ploy. Then, he remembered hearing his younger brother calling his guardian spirit to take him back to his house the moment he was about to lost his consciousness.

' **This must be his room then…but wouldn't his friends get angry knowing that he brought me home???'**

His gaze traveled around the room and he noticed that his gloves and earrings were lying beside the futon. He looked at himself and he realized that the only thing that was covering him were bandages.

'Yoh-sama had already replaced your bandage…You should rest more Hao-sama…' a voice from the window advised him. It was his guardian spirit, Matamune. He was sitting on the windowsill reading his book.

'I'm fine Matamune...' he said to his spirit.

Then, he heard a pair of well-paced footsteps moving up the staircase. He shifted his gaze to the door. The door slid open and there stood his younger brother and his guardian spirit. He was holding a tray in his hands. As soon as he saw his brother awake, he quickly walked towards him.

'Well then, I'll be leaving Hao-sama to you Yoh-sama.' Matamune said before he disappeared from sight.

'I'll be going then Yoh-dono, call me when you need me.' Amidamaru told his master.

'Alright alright…you've been saying that for a million times already…' he pouted.

The spirit then floated up and passed through the ceiling of the room.

There were silence for a moment as the two were left in the room.

'I brought you some food...' he told him as he set down the tray.

'Aren't you worried that your friends might get angry with you?'

'Huh?' he blinked for a moment.

'You brought me back to your house didn't you? And everyone in your place hates me right…'

'Oh…that…well…uh…I didn't really tell them about you….'

'What do you mean you didn't tell them? Aren't they staying over for a few weeks?'

'Well…yes…wait, how do you know?'

He smirked at his younger brother. 'I'm Asakura Hao. I know everything.'

'Oh yeah…' he grinned sheepishly.

'You haven't answered my questions Yoh…'

'They all went out to buy groceries but up till now they haven't returned yet…I wonder what took them so long though…I mean it's already 8--'

'Where's my stuff Yoh?'

'Stuff?' he thought for a moment.

'Oh...that... It's in the washer. Ah! I forgot… You eat first, I'm going to get you a yukata…' he walked towards his wardrobe and pulled out some clothes. Lastly, he pulled out a yukata and then he walked back towards his brother. He was surprised to see that his brother had already finished eating the food he brought. Then, he helped him to replace his bandage again and wear his yukata. Lastly, he poured a liquid from a bottle into a spoon.

'What's this?' he looked disgustedly at the spoon filled with the strange liquid.

'It's your medicine. It'll aid your recovery.' he said as he tried to put the spoon into his brother's mouth.

'No way I am going to taste that slimy liquid. I would rather die than tasting that!' he moved his head away from the spoon.

'Come on…it tastes fine…I always eat it when I got sick…'

'So what…I'm still not going to taste tha--' Hao stopped abruptly when Yoh puts the spoon into his mouth.

'See…It taste just fine…' he smiled at his brother.

He glared at him for a moment but didn't say anything else. He laid on the futon and turned his back on Yoh ignoring him.

'Hao, can I ask you one thing?'

'What?!' Hao replied coldly.

'Would you mind if I call you ONII-CHAN?'

Hao's gaze immediately shifted back to him. He looked at him with an utterly surprised expression.

'Do you mind if I call you that?' he asked him again.

Hao couldn't help but smile at his younger brother surprising him. He never thought that the younger shaman would actually thought of him as a family member. At least, that's what Hao thought.

'Do whatever you want.' was the reply. Yoh's face brightened.

'Then I'll be calling you Onii-chan from today onwards. Ok…ONII-CHAN?'

'Ahh…' he replied. He was pretty delighted.

'Onii-chan, you lay down and rest first. I'll go and wash the dishes and when I come up we'll have a talk alright?' he told his brother.

 **['We can still talk from afar you know?]** the person addressed thought to the younger shaman.

 **['That's right! Telepathic link! Why didn't I think of it???']**. Hao chuckled lightly at his younger brother surprising him for the second time.

**['If we use that, we'll be able to talk right now without anyone listening to our conversation correct?']**

**['That's true…but I still prefer to talk later. I want you to rest Onii-chan…']** he grinned at his brother.

He was a little bit surprised of what his brother had said to him.

 **[I see…we'll talk later then…]** he laid back on the futon.

Yoh then lifted the tray and went out of the room. He took a quick glance at his brother before heading out of the room. He headed down the stairs and went into the kitchen. Amidamaru and Matamune followed him. They were talking to each other when Yoh was washing the dishes. He had just finished washing the dishes when he heard the entrance door slid open. Matamune immediately disappeared. He didn't want both him and his master to be found out.

'We're home.' all of them said in unison.

He wiped his hands with a towel and went out of the kitchen with Amidamaru. He knew very well who they were.

'Welcome home…' the two of them greeted with a smile.

'You haven't slept yet?' Anna asked Yoh.

For a moment Yoh was startled. Normally she wouldn't be asking such a question.

'I was washing the dish--'

'Yoh, go to sleep. You'll need it tomorrow...' Anna told him sternly.

'O-O-Ok Anna…' he quickly rushed up the stairs and went back into his room.

After changing his clothes, he slid down the covers of the futon and snuggled into the blanket. He stared at his brother who was now sleeping beside him. He decided not to disturb his brother and they can always talk through telepathic link now that his brother had taught him how to use it.

'Good night, Onii-chan...' he whispered to his brother. Then, he closed his eyes and went to sleep. He could have sworn he heard a 'good night.' replied to him and he smiled.

* * *

Hao was sitting on the futon while gazing at the stars through the window when he heard the alarm rang. Yoh woke up immediately and closed the alarm in an instant. It was 4.00 a.m. in the morning.

'Ohayo Onii-chan…' Yoh greeted and let out a yawn.

'Ohayo.....Otouto…' he replied quietly.

Yoh was a little bit surprised at what he heard.

'Did you just call me O-O-Otouto?' he asked.

'If you don't like it-'

'Of course not!' Yoh said hastily. 'I was just…just surprised that's all…' he grinned.

Hao shrugged. 'Okay then.'

Yoh opened the wardrobe. Then, he pulled out two navy blue jogging pants and two white T-shirt. He handed one of the jogging pants and T-shirt to his brother.

'Here Onii-chan…wear these clothes.'

'Huh? Why?'

'Your clothes are still in the washer and I can't leave you here or Anna and the others will find out that you are here. In other words, you will have to come with me…and also, you are not going to go out wearing that yukata right?'

Hao sighed. 'Right…'

The two of changed their clothes and tied their hair. Hao didn't wear his gloves and earrings today. He kept it in his younger brother's wardrobe instead. Hao went out of the house through the window since he doesn't want to be seen walking around his younger brother's house. Then, the two of them then headed out of the house. They jogged together as their guardian spirits followed them from behind.

(After approximately 40 to 50 minutes)

'Ahh….I'm tired…' Yoh gasped.

'Ehh…but you've only finished 12 kilometers.'

Yoh gave him a wounded look. His brother didn't even break a sweat. Suddenly, he thought of an idea. He smiled at his brother. Amidamaru and Matamune stared from Yoh to Hao and then back to Yoh. Hao immediately knew what the younger shaman was trying to do. He moved a few step backwards.

'No…not in a million years.' he told him.

'Come on Onii-chan…all you need to do is cut your hair--'

'I said NO and I mean NO!' he frowned at him. No way is he going to cut his hair for such a reason…and to replace him for training is just too…

'Please…you know how much I hate Anna's training…' He gave him a pleading look. The other boy scowled at him.

'Keep that up and I will BURN you, Asakura Yoh…' he glared murderously.

Suddenly, the sound of a wooden sword fell on the floor caught their attention. They shifted their gaze and saw a tall man and a spirit standing beside him staring incredulously at the twins. His face was pale as he stared at the twin with the longer hair. Yoh gulped. There was a long and uncomfortable silence.

'H-H-H-Hao! Y-Y-Y-You're--'

'alive…I know…' he finished his sentence rolling his eyes.

'Wait, Ryu…I can explain--'

He immediately held up his wooden sword and said 'Tokagero! Oversou--'

Before he could even finish his sentence, his wooden sword was already cut into half by Matamune. The edge of the sword pierced on the floor.

 **['Matamune…do anything you want but don't kill him.'** ] Hao thought to his spirit.

'WAIT!' Yoh exclaimed and got everyone's attention. He took a deep breath.

'Ryu, please don't tell anyone about this or else they will try to kill him.' Yoh told the tall man.

'BOSS! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND! HE'S A MURDERER!'

'He has changed now. He is no longer a murderer and he no longer hated humans. He hasn't murdered anyone after the tournament between him and Yoh-dono.' Amidamaru's word startled everyone except Matamune. There were dropped jaws and silence. Everyone turned their attention to Hao.

'W-W-W-What are you looking at?' he glared at them before shifting his gaze to Matamune. Little traitor.

'It's that true Onii-chan?' he stared at his brother who was now glaring at his spirit.

'S-So what if it's true!' Hao said. He didn't bother to look at his twin.

A smile formed on Yoh's face.

 **[Matamune, we're going to have a longggg talk when we get back…]** the cat sweat dropped. He received a murderous glare from his master.

'ONII-CHAN!' he hit his brother's shoulder hard.

'OUCH! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?' he finally shifted his attention from Matamune to the younger shaman.

'Stop glaring already…' he said childishly. Hao glared at Matamune for one last time before turning back at his brother.

'Fine! What else do you want?' he growled.

'Promise me one thing…' he said.

Hao heaved a sigh. 'Now what do you want?' he rolled his eyes.

'Promise me you won't kill any of my friends or any other humans ok?'

'And why do I have to promise you that?' he asked.

'Because you have to or else Ryu wouldn't believe that you won't kill him and he'll tell everyone about you although you don't kill humans anymore…' Yoh stared at Ryu for a moment before turning back to the older shaman.

'Who said I didn't kill humans anymore?'

'Umm…you???

He gritted his teeth and glared at his spirit again. Finally, he gave in to his brother.

'Alright alright, I promise. Are you happy now?' he asked his younger brother.

'Pinky swear first…'

Hao gave an exasperated sigh.

'Alright…' and then the two of them entwined their pinky fingers.

'You're so naïve Otouto…' he told the younger boy.

Ryu stared incredulously at the long haired shaman. He was flabbergasted at what he had just seen. Asakura Yoh had just force the homicidal Asakura Hao to promise him not to kill humans.

'Am I dreaming Tokagero???' he asked his spirit.

Just then, Hao suddenly appeared beside him and pulled his cheeks.

'Ouch! That hurts!'

'What do you think?' Hao smirked.

Ryu just laughed nervously at the long haired shaman.

'Well then Onii-chan, let's go…' Yoh interrupted his brother.

'Nope…I'm afraid I can't… ' he said.

'Ehhh? Why not?' Yoh asked.

Hao sighed exasperatedly. He had forgotten how clueless his younger brother can be at times like this.

'Because if I were to train with you the others will find out that what the man said was true because he's gone to tell them…' he retorted.

'Huh, gone to tell them? Ryu, you won't tel--Eh, where's Ryu and Tokagero?' Yoh turned to Amidamaru.

'Its fultile, Yoh…that man had no intention of hiding it…' Hao told his brother.


	3. The Rest of the Family Finds Out

As soon as he returned home, he went to the garden and saw Anna and the others standing there waiting for him. He saw the discontented faces of every person in the room. Standing at the most behind was Ryu and he was sweating a lot as if he had just returned from a marathon. They were silence and the atmosphere was tense and suffocating. Meanwhile, Hao and Matamune was watching the scene from a tree in case anything happened to his younger brother.

'Yoh, is it true what Ryu said?' Anna asked his fiancée in an unusually cold manner.

Everyone gazed at him. Yoh immediately knew what had happened. Yoh could see very clearly that their displeased with the news and he could see the nervousness in Ryu's expression. Just like Hao had predicted, Ryu had no intention of hiding anything.

'Huh, what are you talking about?' He played dumb instead.

'Don't play dumb with us Yoh...Ryu had already seen him.' Ren said in a calm tone. He was trying his best to refrain himself from attacking his friend.

Ryu just stared at Yoh worriedly. He was beginning to regret telling the others about Hao.

'Then I don't need to say anything…' Yoh said in his usual and carefree tone. Horohoro was losing his patience. He grabbed Yoh's shirt and forcefully pulled him up. The others just kept quiet except Manta.

'Horohoro, what are you doing! He's not Hao!' Manta reminded the Ainu boy.

'WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING, WALKING WITH THAT MAN! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN HOW MANY PEOPLE THAT PYROMANIAC KILLED! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN HOW HE TRIED TO KILL US!!!' he yelled at his friend.

'He has changed. He didn't kill humans anymore…' Yoh replied calmly.

Horohoro got angry when he heard that statement. He threw him hard on the floor.

'KORORO! OVERSOUL!'

'What are you doing Horohoro?' Manta exclaimed.

'BASON! OVERSOUL!' Ren's patience had also reach its limit.

'ANNA! DO SOMETHING!' Manta yelled at the itako but she didn't seem to bother. She just looked at her fiancée that was lying on the floor. She held out her beads and tears fell from her cheek. Just then, Yoh's family member had appeared. Tamao was there as well and she gazed at Yoh warily.

'Yoh, does that mean you are at his side?' Kino asked but he didn't reply.

'Yoh…you mustn't believe him. He will never change. He only wanted you to become the Shaman King…' Mikihisa said.

'Yoh…if you choose to go with that man we will have to KILL you. Please Yoh…don't make us do such a thing.' Yohmei said. Keiko and Tamao just stay quiet.

'Anna…what's going on?' Manta asked. For a moment there was silence.

'Ojiisan had made a divination a few months ago because he wanted to know whether Hao is really dead or not. However, his divination had told him that he was alive…Ever since then, he had been doing divinations everyday trying to find out anything related to that man but to no avail. However, when he made a divination yesterday he had found out something about him…He foresaw that Hao was with Yoh…Yoh had taken care of Asakura Hao…and that can only meant he was at his side… not ours…that was why they're here. To eliminate him…Horohoro and Ren are the only outsiders that know about it…I didn't believe it at first…I didn't believed it until Ryu came and told us he saw him…' she lowered her head sadly. Her expression remained blank but tears trickled down her cheeks.

'Yoh! You have two choices, either you return to our side and fight along with us, or die along with Hao!' Yohmei said.

'No…I'm not leaving him…I'm not going to leave him…not when he actually cared for someone…' Yoh said calmly.

'.....Then you leave us no choice.... Goodbye Yoh…' Yohmei said. He was crying.

They attacked him altogether. (except Ryu, Manta, Keiko, and Tamao)

Hao held out two talismans. They were burned by fire. Two shikigami appeared and dodged everyone's attack.

'How small….'

Hao came out of his hiding place followed by Matamune.

'HAO!!!!' everyone except Yoh exclaimed in unison.

He just stared at Yoh and suddenly, he started laughing.

'Onii-chan…' Yoh stared at his brother warily.

After a brief moment, his laughed ended.

'It's been a long while hasn't it?' he smiled mischievously.

'Asakura Hao! What are you doing here!' the Ainu boy yelled at him.

'None of your concern…BORO BORO…' he glanced impassively at the Ainu boy.

'IT'S HORO HORO NOT BORO BORO!!!'

'Do I look like I care about things like that Boro Boro???' the Ainu boy was about to attack the long haired shaman when Yohmei suddenly interrupted their conversation.

'What do you want Hao?' Yohmei asked.

'Don't worry…I'm not here to fight...' he waved his hand casually.

Then, he shifted his gaze to his younger brother. His eyes narrowed in coldness as he glanced at his brother. Yoh immediately noticed the difference in his brother's eyes. Unlike yesterday, it has no warmth and unexpressive. He had been so different when he had met him for the first time since his supposed death yesterday. He wondered what had caused this.

'You could be so guillible at times Yoh…' Hao said in a mocking tone. Then, he chuckled lightly before continuing. Everyone was startled by his words.

'Did you really think that I would actually change??? Did you really think I would care about someone like you??? Nonsense…I only cared because you are the other half of my soul that's all. To think that you actually believed it…' he began laughing again. Then, he shifted his gaze from the younger boy to Matamune. He gave him a cold glare.

'Matamune, I don't need you anymore… You're no longer useful for me. You can return to the afterlife if you want…it is no longer my concern…' Hao said in an unusually blunt manner. The cat spirit stared incredulously at his master.

The others who were still in their oversoul mode were about to attack him when he suddenly walked towards one of his shikigami. He stopped for a moment and turned to look at the others.

'Well, now that I'm done with my speech, I'll be going--' his sentence was abruptly cut off when Yoh grabbed his arm tightly. Everyone was astonished by his sudden gesture.

'Onii-chan, you're not leaving… I won't let you off that easily. Not until you at least recovered from the injury...' Yoh had a serious expression that Hao himself had never seen before.

He pretended not to bother.

'Hands off Yoh…' Hao stared dryly at his younger brother.

'ASAKURA YOH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! THAT GUY IS ASAKURA HAO!' Horohoro exclaimed.

'GET AWAY FROM THAT MAN YOH!' Yohmei and Mikihisa exclaimed in unison.

Yoh didn't bother.

'Onii-chan!Why are you doing this to yourself? People might not realize it, but I can still see it! You're only doing this because you don't want me to get hurt!'

His words had caused Hao to be dumbfounded.

'Yoh, don't be silly …' Kino said coldly.

Hao managed to regain his composure. However, he was beginning to get irritated.

'Asakura Yoh…I am advising you to Let. Go. Of. My. Hand. NOW. Before. I. Decided. To. KILL. You…'

'NO!!!' Yoh countered.

'YOH!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!' everyone yelled at him.

Hao gritted his teeth. He was beginning to lose control again. He knew he had to leave now.

'Kouki!' he called out to one of his shikigami.

The shikigami held out his hand to hit Yoh. Mikihisa managed to forcefully pulled Yoh away from Hao just in time. Kouki's hand landed on the ground instead of Yoh. Just then, Hao and his shikigami had disappeared from the place altogether. Yoh stumbled on the ground, falling to his knees, his bangs in front of his face covering his eyes. Then, tears began rolling down his cheeks…

* * *

 After the incident, Yoh was always depressed and he hadn't talked to anyone, not even Anna…Everyday he would go for his daily training early in the morning and came home late at night. He didn't bother Anna and the others scolding him when he returned.

The Asakura family had decided to stay there for a few weeks.

Matamune had stayed with them and he always followed Yoh when he went out for training. Of course, Amidamaru followed as well. Anna had sent the ghost that lived in the house to watch over him in case anything happened but they would always lost sight of him while watching over the younger boy. It has been a long while since they last watched over him during training.

Everyone was worried about Yoh. Nobody had ever saw Yoh so upset before. Maybe, they have never seen him upset in the first place. They blamed Hao for still being alive and they now hated him more than anything.

Today, Yoh managed to escape from the spirit that was watching over him and he went to the city for a leisurely walk with Matamune and Amidamaru. While he was standing at the pavement, he thought of his brother. Ever since that incident happened, he never saw him again.

' **Did you really think that I would actually change??? Did you really think I would care about someone like you??? Nonsense…I only cared because you are the other half of my soul that's all. To think that you actually believed it…'** those words spun around his head as he walked across the street.

In truth, he believed it. He believed that he would change. He believed that he would truly care for him. Right now, he felt like he was being shattered to million pieces.

He thought of the times when he met him for the first time after his supposed death.

He thought of the times when he managed to lure him out from his hiding place.

He thought of the times when he called him 'Otouto' for the first time.

He thought of the times when he made a promise with him.

He doesn't want all this to end. He wanted to see him again…

Suddenly, a thought came to his mind. If he didn't care about him, why would he be doing all this?!

* * *

The wind blew against his long strands of hair as he peered down the water from above the bridge. He glanced at his wavering reflection. A small cat suddenly nudged Hao's leg until it gained his attention. His eyes softened as he stared at the kitten. He began scratching behind the cat's ears. A small smile formed on his lips. He heaved a sigh. He held the kitten in his arms and walked away from the bridge.

* * *

SLAM!!!

'Grrr….THIS IS ALL HIS FAULT!!!' Horohoro yelled out of the blue. The others were startled by his sudden motion.

'It's useless Horohoro…even if we don't want it to happen, it has already happened and there's nothing we can do about it…' Ren told the Ainu boy.

'That Hao, causing so much pain to my son…he is definitely unforgivable…' Yohmei said angrily.

'I don't get it…why would Yoh care about that man?' Mikihisa said as he rounded his hand into a ball of fist.

'THAT'S RIGHT! WHY DID HE CARE ABOUT THAT JERK!' Horohoro exclaimed.

'Yoh is too kind…' Anna replied nonchalantly.

'BUT WHY MUST WE SUFFER AS WELL! HE HASN'T BEEN TALKING TO US FOR WEEKS! I'M DYING TO HEAR HIM SPEAK!' Horohoro raised his voice.

'You're noisy. Just shut up and drink your tea already...' Ren told the Ainu boy.

'Grrr…why don't you just get lost, SHARK HAIR!'

'WHY DON'T YOU SHUT UP BORO BORO!'

'WHY YOU…'

Suddenly, a scream was heard. Manta came out of the toilet and pointed accusingly at the direction of the toilet bowl. Anna heaved a sigh as Horohoro and Ren went towards the direction of the toilet. There were spirits inside the toilet bowl as they slowly rose up and floated towards the direction of the itako.

They bowed their heads with an apologetic look.

'He escaped again didn't he?  _Sigh_ …I knew this would happen…' Anna said.

* * *

'Matamune…' Yoh called to his brother's ex-spirit who was now staring at him with a goldfish expression. He was surprised but relieved at the same time when he heard him speak again. He was about to talk when Amidamaru interrupted his conversation.

'Yoh-dono, you have finally spoken…' Amidamaru was crying.

'Sorry to worry you Amidamaru, it's just that…' he paused for a moment.

'Yoh-sama, you don't need to explain. We understand that you're still sad about the incident…' Matamune said.

'Matamune, why didn't you pass on to the afterlife? Onii-chan said that you can do whatever you want right?' he asked startling the spirit.

'Well…right now, I wanted to stay with Yoh-sama for a while… ' he responded.

'Matamune, if he really didn't care about me…why did he came out that time?' Yoh asked.

Matamune was taken aback by his second sudden question. He knew what he was referring to but he chose not to tell him.

'I don't know…' he replied simply. Yoh realized his tactics and decided to play along.

'I see…So Matamune, you know where he lives right?'

'Yes…Yoh-sama. Why do you ask?'

For a moment there was silence.

'Can you take me to him???'

Matamune and Amidamaru stared at him with wide eyes.

'Yoh-dono…please…don't go there. We don't know what he might do to you… last time he nearly crushed you with his shikigami…'

'That was last time…anyway, right now I have you with me so I don't think he can do any harm to me this time…and also…' then he gazed at Matamune.

'I have Matamune as well…'

'Yoh-sama…' Matamune said and Yoh grinned.

'Amidamaru, Matamune, will you lend me your strength???' he asked. He was really determined to prove to them that Hao really had changed.

Amidamaru and Matamune stared at him for a moment.

'I understand.' Amidamaru replied seeing his determined expression.

'I will lead the way…Yoh-sama.' Matamune told him.

Yoh smiled at the two spirits. He knew he could always count on them.

'Well then…let's go.'

* * *

 'Ummm….Matamune???'

'Yes, Yoh-sama?'

'Isn't this the place we first met that day when I was attacked by the demon?' Yoh said as he pointed to the direction of his brother's memorial pole that was pretty far away.

'Yes…Yoh-sama. Hao-sama lives in a shrine in the deeper part of this forest.'

'Ehhhh! How come I've never seen him before?'

'Well, Hao-sama hardly leaves the shrine. He only goes out when he got very boring. Also, he doesn't want anyone to know that he is still alive especially Yoh-sa--' he paused as he realized he had told him something that he shouldn't have.

'What? He doesn't want Yoh-dono to know that he is alive. Why?' Amidamaru looked at the cat questioningly. Yoh's suspicions began to grow. He had been suspecting that Matamune was hiding things.

'Well…I don't really know why...' Matamune was getting worried.

'It was Hao right? He told you to keep it a secret right?' Yoh's words scared him out of his wits. He knew he was very intuitive but he didn't expect it to be so accurate.

Not only did Hao hide things, he had hidden many things from the younger shaman. Suddenly, a child's voice surprised the three of them.

'Nekomata-chan!!!' the girl with big eyes hugged Matamune.

'Where have Nekomata-chan been all this while? Opacho was very lonely…' she told the cat. Meanwhile, the cat was struggling for air.

'Hello Opacho… Why are you here?' Yoh asked.

'Opacho was looking for Hao-sama but Opacho can't find Hao-sama…' her eyes become teary.

'Hao wasn't in the shrine?' Yoh asked. The girl shook her head.

'Yoh-sama, have you seen Hao-sama???' Opacho asked. The voice of another person disrupted their conversation before they could continue.

'Well well…look who we'd have here? Asakura Yoh and his two spirits…' he smirked. He was holding a kitten in his hands.

'HAO-SAMA!!!' Opacho walked towards his master.

'Opacho? What are you doing here?' he looked at her questioningly.

'Opacho was looking for Hao-sama. Hao-sama, where have you been?' her big eyes were teary.

'I just went out for a walk. Sorry to worry you Opacho…Ah! There's something I want to show you Opacho…' he smiled as he lay down the kitten that he had been holding. Opacho bent down and patted its head.

'It's cute, Hao-sama…'

'I'm glad you liked it…'

Yoh and Amidamaru who were being ignored watched the whole scene in surprise and confusion. Matamune just stay quiet for he knew what was coming.

'Hao, we need to talk…'

The person addressed stared at Yoh for a moment. He had totally forgotten about him.

'There's nothing for us to be talked about…' he said coldly before glaring at Matamune. He shifted his gaze to Opacho. He smiled at her.

'Let's go Opacho…' the girl nodded and they began walking away from him. The little kitten followed them from behind.

Yoh ran to the front and stopped the two of them. He pointed his sword at Hao.

'Then I will have to take you by force…' Yoh was serious.

Hao smirked. 'Do you really think you can force me, Asakura Yoh? Truthfully, I don't think you would even manage to touch me.'

'Then, if I manage to attack you…you will have to come with me.'

'We'll see about that...Meanwhile, you can join as well if you want Matamune...' he told the cat.

'Amidamaru! Oversoul in Harusame! In Futsu no Mitama no Tsurugi!' and he went into armor oversoul mode.

He barged to the front and went straight for Hao. Hao dodged it by sharply darting to the left. Then, he appeared out of nowhere and attacked him from behind. Hao evaded it and kicked Yoh. He fell on the floor. He stood up and quickly jumped forward and attack using Shinkuu Butagiri but Hao evaded it just in time and it ended up cutting down the stalk of a huge tree. The tree toppled to the ground with a blow.

Yoh and Hao darted away and both managed to avoid the tree. Yoh immediately attacked his brother. Hao, a little caught off guard defended himself and knocked Yoh away. Yoh's back hit the trunk of the tree. A smile spread across his face.

'You won't be able to dodge that one would you?' he said.

Hao read his mind and immediately turned to his back. It was too late. Matamune hit him with the back of his huge katana and he fell on the floor. Hao flinched and grasped his chest in pain. Yoh stood up and ran towards his brother. He had forgotten about his injury until a while ago.

'Hao, are you alright?' Yoh asked his brother nervously as he kneeled in front of him.

Matamune was staring at his master with concern written all over his face. Hao stared at them impassively.

'I'm fine! Why do you care?' he retorted and glared at his younger brother. Just when he was about to reply, someone called out to his name.

'YOH!' the person was undoubtedly his father Mikihisa.

Hao pushed him away and tries to escape. He ignored the pain that was running through his body. However, it wasn't as easy as he thought.

'What's the hurry? It's not like you at all…Asakura Hao.' Yohmei appeared in front of him.

Everyone else began to appear from different directions. Hao was besieged.

* * *

'I see…it was that damn raccoon again…' Hao sneered.

'W-Wait…how did you guys found me here?' Yoh questioned.

'Tamao saw you walking in the city while she went to buy Ren's milk. She asked that raccoon to follow you.' Hao told the confused boy.

'How did you--' Yoh looked at him questioningly.

'I can read minds remember?' Hao countered before he even finished his sentence.

'Oh yeah…I forgot…'

'Asakura Hao, today will be your last day of living. Prepare to die!' Mikihisa told the long haired shaman.

Everyone went into oversoul mode. They went straight for Hao when Yoh suddenly stopped them.

'STOP!' Yoh shouted. Everyone's attention was then focused on him.

Yoh suddenly went in front of him and spread his arms sideways trying to protect his brother.

'What are you doing Yoh?' Ren asked his friend.

'If you want to kill him, kill me first!' Yoh told them.

'Get out of the way Yoh. This has nothing to do with you.' Yohmei said.

'NO!!! I won't.'

'Are you out of your mind! HE ONCE ABSORBED YOUR SOUL!!!' Horohoro yelled at Yoh.

'He's my brother!'

'I don't need your pity and I don't care about you! Lastly, I'm never your brother! Now get lost Yoh!' Hao responded which was a huge mistake. He shouldn't have said that he was never his brother.

**['You're never my brother?']**  Yoh thought to his brother. That was when he realized his mistake. Although he couldn't see his face, he knew what he had just said must have hurt him a lot. He lowered his head and cursed himself silently.

'Enough chatting, it's time to end this.' Yohmei said

Mikihisa pulled Yoh away from Hao and pinned him down. Tamao and Keiko just stay quiet. The others attacked Hao from all directions. Yoh was desperately wringing his head to think of a way to stop them. Suddenly, his gaze focused at Matamune.

' **Forest…demon….street….lake….house….training…That's it!'** Yoh thought.

'HAO!!! IF YOU HAVE NEVER CARED ABOUT ME THEN WHY DID YOU SAVE ME THAT DAY? THEN, WHY DID YOU MAKE THAT PROMISE AND WHY WOULD YOU EVEN BOTHER IF I FELL INTO A LAKE!' Yoh said in a panicking voice. He was really desperate.

Everyone stopped attacking and shifted his gaze towards the younger boy. Asakura Hao had saved him??? Mikihisa released Yoh from his grasp.

'Yoh, what are you talking about?' Yohmei asked.

'Hao saved your life? Are you sure you're not mistaken?' Mikihisa looked at his son questioningly.

'Yoh, I know the incident that happened has been hard on you but that doesn't mean you could distort a fact so randomly.' Ren told his friend.

'Did you hit your head or something? There's no way he would ever save you Yoh. Even if he was your brother he wouldn't save you.' Horohoro said.

Yoh guessed that what he said was bound to cause questions. He took a deep breath.

'No that's not true He really did save me I'm sure of it Matamune and Amidamaru know it as well I did not hit my head and lastly he did not kill humans anymore.' he told everyone all at once. They sweat dropped.

'Can you repeat Yoh? You're too fast…' Mikihisa told his son.

'What I'm trying to say is that he really did save me. I'm sure of it. Matamune and Amidamaru know it as well. I did not hit my head and lastly, He. Did. Not. Kill. Humans. Anymore.'

There were dropped jaws and a long and uncomfortable silence. They were totally taken aback by Yoh's words. Then, they shifted their gaze towards the long haired shaman. They stared at him with goldfish expression.

'What?' he glared at them.

'Are you sure he didn't kill anymore?' Mikihisa asked his son without shifting his gaze from Hao.

'Yup. He was the one who promised me he won't kill. Ryu saw it.' Everyone turned his attention to Ryu immediately.

'W-well…yes, H-H-Hao did promise boss that he w-w-won't kill…' he stuttered.

'Then, why did you say you didn't care about Yoh? You obviously do care about Yoh didn't you?' Ren asked Hao. Their attention went back to Hao.

'Nonsense! Why would I care about him? He has nothing to do with me!'

'But didn't Hao-sama once tell Opacho that Yoh-sama was Hao-sama's otouto?' Opacho said. Her sudden appearance startled everyone. She was hugging a cat in her hands.

'T-T-T-That was last time….' Hao told her.

'But Hao-sama just told Opacho two days ago…' Opacho responded with a questioning look.

He stared at the others. They were smiling mischievously at him. Some of them were trying to control their laughter. He gritted his teeth.

'This is nothing but a waste of time! I'm leaving.' he said as he tried to run but Matamune stopped him.

'Hao-sama, have you forgotten our deal? If Yoh-sama managed to attack you, you will have to go and talk with him. Remember?' he remarked.

' **Why is it so difficult to avoid Yoh!'** he thought to himself. He heaved a sigh and turned to his twin.

'Are you going to stand there all day?' he told him.

Yoh's face brightened. He walked towards his brother and hold onto his hand graciously. The others stared incredulously at the twin.

Keiko smiled as Yoh and Hao began walking away. Mikihisa walked towards Keiko and held her hands. They stood there and watched the scene in relief.

'They're getting along well aren't they…' Keiko murmured softly so that only Mikihisa could hear.

'Ahhh…' was the sole reply.


	4. Birthday Twins

'Onii-chan, can't you walk a little faster?' Yoh told his brother.

'Nope.' Hao replied flatly.

'But you're too slow.' Yoh pouted.

'That's because you're too fast.' Hao retorted.

'You're so cold onii-chan…'

'You're so annoying Otouto…' Hao gave him his brusque reply. Yoh gave him a wounded look.

They kept debating with each other as the both of them walked along the road. The others who were following them from behind watched them in amusement. The Asakura members had their conversation.

'You think that guy really had changed?' Yohmei ask them. They knew exactly who he was referring to…

'It seems so.' Kino replied in her usual manner.

'Children can be really good at heart, if there were given a chance. Ne?' Keiko said.

'I guess you can call Hao that…' Mikihisa replied unsure whether he should think of Hao as a child.

Meanwhile, Matamune was smiling happily whilst staring at his two masters. He thought of what Hao had thought to him that day just before he left Yoh.

**['Matamune…you have better take good care of him when I'm not around or else…']** his smile broadened at that thought. The master that he had met 1000 years ago has finally returned as his true self after so many years courtesy of Yoh.

'Isn't this great Matamune? Yoh-dono and Hao-dono are getting along so well…' Amidamaru told the cat spirit.

'Yes…' he paused for a moment.

'You know Amidamaru-san… Hao-sama can be very cold in the outside, but he was very warm in the inside…' Matamune said.

Amidamaru smiled before continuing.

'Yes, and I think Yoh-dono must have noticed that or he wouldn't have wanted to talk to him…'

'It's not just Yoh that noticed it…' a sudden voice interrupted. The shifted their gaze towards a Chinese shaman.

'The others are beginning to notice it as well...and I am as well…' Ren told Matamune.

'I see…I'm happy to hear that.' Matamune replied. They turned and stared at the debating twins.

'Onii-chan, why did you leave me that day?' Yoh suddenly questioned his brother.

Hao stopped walking. He stood there rooted on the spot.

'W-W-What are you talking about? He pretended not to know.

'Onii-chan, you know very well what I'm talking about.' He retorted.

Silence follows as the question is left hanging in the air.

'You're not answering my questions Onii-chan.'

Everyone focused their attention on the two boys. Now that they think of it, they also don't understand why Hao did such a thing. Matamune look at his master with a half pleading and half wary look. Hao read his mind and gave him a murderous glare.

**['If you say anything, I'll send you to the depths of hell. Got it?']** Hao thought to his spirit who was now staring at him nervously.

'Matamune, you know something don't you?' Yoh asked the cat spirit.

Hao blinked. Was he that obvious?

'No. He knew nothing about it and he had nothing to do with it.' Hao told his younger brother.

'Nope, I don't think so...I have a hunch that he KNEW something really important.' Ren countered.

'He did not.' Hao told them even though he knew that it was fultile.

'Oh yes he did.' Anna interrupted the boys. They gazed at Matamune.

'Matamune, tell me what did you know?' Anna gave him a 'you-better-tell-me-or-else-you-will-regret-it' glare.

'W-W-W-Why Anna-sama, I don't know anything…' he told the itako. Her glare was piercing but at the same time, he couldn't disobey his master. Yoh then shifted his gaze towards his brother.

'Onii-chan, you're still not answering my questions…' he told Hao.

'I did it because I feel like doing it.' Hao answered simply. He mentally winced at his own lie.

Yoh and the others stared at Hao incredulously.

'That's it?' Yoh asked his brother.

'Pfft. Of course. Why should I lie? Besides, I'm the great Asakura Hao. I can do anything as long as I feel like doing it.'

There was a long and uncomfortable silence until Horohoro suddenly yelled at the pyro shaman.

'HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH SUFFERING YOU HAVE CAUSED YOH!' Horohoro yelled at the fire shaman.

Hao blinked for the second time. He had caused Yoh to suffer?

'What do you mean? And....who are you again?'

'EVER SINCE YOU'RE GONE HE REFUSED TO TALK TO ANYONE! AND I'M HOROHORO!' Horohoro yelled. He was furious.

'Apart from that, he's been skipping his training!' Ren said while Anna glared at Yoh.

'And he hadn't been eating properly for the past few days…' Mikihisa wasn't happy as well.

'And he'd non-stop staring into space…' Yohmei added.

'And the worst part, he was always depressed…'

There was another silence…

Yoh could have sworn he saw his brother's guilty expression before he lowered his head.

Hao pursed his lips and his bangs were covering his eyes. Pangs of guilt sank in as he contemplated what they had just said. He always thought that without him in his younger brother's life, his life would be much better. He thought that it was best for him to leave and stay away from him. He thought he would lead a much more happy life without him but it was totally the other way round. He had caused him to suffer instead. He was a failure as a brother.

Matamune couldn't take it anymore. Even though he couldn't see his master's face clearly, he could imagine how guilty he was. In addition, it won't cause him much if he were to be sent to the depths of hell. It's not as if it was the first time he sent him there anyway. He remembered that he once sent him to the depths of hell for a week after he had summoned him because he had kept on asking him to go and meet Yoh. Ever since that incident, he hardly ever talked about anything related to Yoh until a few days ago...

'It wasn't entirely Hao-sama's fault. He only wanted you to life a better life that's all, Yoh-sama…' Matamune told the younger boy.

Everyone turn to the cat spirit. They were dumbstruck by his words. His sudden input that provided the truth of Hao's action caused the others to then turn their attention towards the long haired shaman. They had a lot of questions in their mind. Meanwhile, the very person in the center of the dispute stared incredulously at his spirit who had once again spilled the beans. He was surprised yet furious at the same time...

Needless to say, everyone started grilling for information.

* * *

 

After having their conversation in Funbari Onsen, Hao was about to leave when an all-too-familiar voice called out for him.

'Onii-chan, where are you going?' Yoh asked his older brother.

'Where else would I be going other than the shrine?' Hao replied and gave him a what-an-absurd-question look.

'Oh, I'll go with you then…' Yoh grinned sheepishly at his brother.

Hao released an annoyed grunt. He turned and walked away from him.

'Hao, please wait…' Mikihisa called out to the fire shaman who sighed exasperatedly.

'What do you want Mikihisa?' Hao asked without turning to look at him.

'Would you like to come to Izumo the day after tomorrow?' he asked.

'Mind to tell me exactly why should I go there?' Hao asked blandly.

'Well, we're going to celebrate Yoh's birthday at Izumo tomorrow and also-'his sentence is immediately cut off by Yoh.

'What! My birthday is the day after tomorrow?' Yoh looked utterly surprised.

'Well, that's mainly why we went to buy groceries with Anna that day…' Ren told him as he came out of the inn.

'Now that I think of it…' Yoh said thoughtfully.

'No thanks. I don't have the time.' Hao replied nonchalantly.

'Eh! But Onii-chan-' Yoh's sentence was cut off abruptly.

'You should go, Hao-sama…' Matamune told his master. Hao shifted his gaze to Matamune and glared at him.

'Do. You. Want. To. Go. To. HELL…' Hao stretched the word 'Hell' and effectively shut him up.

'Onii-chan, have you forgotten our promise?' Yoh said to his brother as he gave him a warning look.

Hao glared at his spirit for a second time. It was thanks to Yoh that Matamune was still standing here with him. Yoh had pleaded his brother to let him off the hook because if he had not told the truth Yoh would have never knew the true motive of his brother's actions. Even when they were having a private conversation he would still plead for Matamune's case which was very infuriating to Hao. If he wasn't caught off-guard all of this wouldn't have happened but a part of him was still glad it had happened. As the conversation continued from time to time, Yoh would stop for a moment and began to plead again on Matamune's behalf. Finally, Hao gave in to his little brother. He wasn't sure as to why he did it but since he had promised his younger brother he wasn't going to break his promise. He heaved a sigh.

'Alright alright…I won't send him to hell, happy?' Hao told the younger boy.

A smile curved his lips when he heard his brother's word. Hao simply rolled his eyes. His little brother was really naïve.

'Now if you'll excuse me…' Hao said and immediately walked away.

'Wait! Onii-chan! ' Yoh called out to him but he ignored him and walk at a faster pace. He quickly ran up to him. Mikihisa stared at them as the two of them begin to disappear from view.

'Hao and Yoh being together as brothers…I never thought that I would be seeing something like that right now.' Ren told Mikihisa.

'Neither have I thought that something like that would happen…' Mikihisa replied.

Both of them watched the twins in silent.

'Lyserg and Chocolove had already headed to Izumo…' Anna's cold voice penetrated through the silence. Ren and Mikihisa startled for a moment and turned to the direction of the voice only to see Anna and the other Asakura members standing at the door.

'Well, I guess it's time for us to return then…' Mikihisa said.

'Will he be there as well?' Keiko asked his husband. Mikihisa knew who she was referring to and he shook his head.

'Probably won't. He refused almost immediately after I voice them out.' Mikihisa told them.

'I see…' Keiko was a little bit disappointed. Although Hao was a murderer, he was still his son and ever since Hao was born, Keiko had never took care of him as he had left the house as soon as he was born.

'Don't worry, he'll come. I'm very sure of it.' Yohmei smirked. His sudden interruption snapped Keiko out of her thoughts. The others stared at him questioningly.

'And how do you know Father?' Mikihisa asked.

'Just wait and see. You'll get what I mean soon enough.' He said as he smirked to himself.

'We should get going by now.' Kino told them. With that, they headed out of Funbari Onsen. Anna and Ren stood at the same spot for a moment before heading back into the inn. They went to the living room where Horohoro and Ryu stood there waiting for them.

'So, how did it go?' Anna asked.

'Perfect.' Horohoro told the Itako.

'Good. Ryu, have you prepared the things?' Anna's gaze traveled from Horohoro to Ryu.

'Yes. Everything is ready, Okami.' Ryu told her.

'So now all we need to do is wait for Yoh to return and then we can leave for Izumo tonight.' The ice queen said in her usual icy tone.

'This is going to be interesting…' Ren said.

* * *

 

'Onii-chan! Wait!' Yoh called out for his brother.

'Leave me alone already!' his brother yelled as his younger brother stop in front in front of him.

'Onii-chan, why won't you come to Izumo?' he asked his brother.

'Because I don't want to come.' Hao replied flatly.

'But Onii-chan-'

'I said NO and I mean NO! If you keep making noise, I will BURN you!' Hao said sternly.

Yoh became silent and made a zipping motion with his mouth. Hao sighed. He continued walking down the trail of the forest silently with his brother who watched his surroundings curiously. After a while the two of them arrived at the entrance of the shrine and saw a tall man. From the looks of it he was probably waiting for someone. As soon as he saw Hao he immediately walked towards them.

'Hao-sama, where have you been? You got us all worried-' the tall man's voice trailed off when he saw Yoh.

'Hello, Luchist.' Yoh waved cheerily at him.

'Hello, Yoh-sama. By the way, why are you with Hao-sama in the first place?' he asked.

'He wanted to tag along although I can't really see the benefit of doing it other than annoying me.' Hao replied nonchalantly. Yoh gave him a wounded look.

'Onii-chan, that's not very nice…' Yoh told him in a childish tone.

'That's good then. It means you'll leave sooner. The sooner you leave the better.' Hao told his younger brother. Yoh gave him another wounded look. Luchist who were listening to their conversation smiled at the twins.

'So, does that mean you were going to Izumo, Hao-sama?' Luchist asked. Hao was surprised but he managed to regain composure almost immediately. He looked at the tall man sternly. He was about to asked him how did he know but he didn't get the chance. Yoh had beaten him to it.

'Luchist, how did you know about it?' Yoh asked.

'Well, he told me about it …' Luchist answered.

'I thought so since he was the only one who can do that…'

'What are you talking about? Who is he?' Yoh stared at his brother questioningly.

'It's me…' a man's voice interrupted. He has a different accent but Yoh find it very familiar in a way...

Yoh shifted his gaze from his brother and for a moment he froze when he saw a tall man walking towards him. He was holding a tobacco pipe in his hand.

'Lyserg! What are you doing here! Aren't you supposed to be in England!' he paused for a moment. Is it just him or is it that Lyserg is a bit too tall since the last time he saw him? He realized that there is some slight difference in the man's appearance compared to Lyserg's. Then, a realization hit upon him.

'You're not Lyserg. You're-'

'-Lyserg's father, Liam Diethel.' Hao finished. He eyed Yoh in slight approval.

'Not bad.' Hao thought to himself.

'We should talk inside. The weathers seems to be quite chilly tonight.' Liam said. Yoh nodded.

'Let's go!' Yoh said and dragged Hao along with him. Hao rolled his eyes in exasperation. His brother sure had a way to make himself at home.

* * *

His eyelids fluttered and he blinked a few times until his vision become clear. He winced slightly as the sunlight shone directly at his face and blinded him. The cloth placed over his forehead fell as he turned his head away.

' **Wait, a cloth?'**  He blinked another time.

He then woke up and looked around the room. For a moment he was still. After that, he rubbed his eyes to completely wipe away the sleepiness from the bleary chocolate orbs and look around the room for the second time. It was the same as it was before. He was confused. This wasn't his room but he knew this place. After all, it was the place where he had left when he was born.

'You're finally awake huh?' Mikihisa's voice penetrated through the silence causing Hao to jump but he managed to hide it from the man. His masked head was poked in from the sliding door.

'Uh…wh-'

'Yoh brought you home yesterday…'

Suddenly, memories of yesterday made itself into his mind. He grimaced at the memory. He had fainted in front of his younger brother. He had fainted in front of his younger brother which is definitely something totally out of character of him. Way out of character…but there was one thing that he find very disturbing in his mind. Why had he fainted in the first place? Why couldn't he remember anything that had happened to him other than he fainted? He mused thoughtfully.

'Yoh's clothes are arranged inside the wardrobe, so if there's anything else you need you can go and ask Yoh. He is at the garden with the others.' Mikihisa said and snapped him back to reality. Before he could say anything further, Mikihisa had already left.

He stood from his futon and was about to head to his younger brother's wardrobe when dizziness come over his head. He clutched his head. His vision was blurry. He shook his head a little and it began to ease itself slowly and his vision became clear again. He walked towards the wardrobe and opened it. He winced slightly.

' **Isn't there anything other than these…'** his gaze traveled around the wardrobe filled with clothes. There were a few sets of clothes and pants which he wore everyday and a few white T-shirt and navy blue jogging pants which he probably wore it for training. Finally, a pink tracksuit with a star on it caught his attention. He took the shirt and placed it beside the futon. Then, he went out of the room and headed to the toilet. As soon as he had cleaned himself, he went back to his room. After changing his clothes and tying his hair in a ponytail position, he headed towards the garden. He wanted to ask Yoh what had happened yesterday…

'Yoh! Faster or I'll add another 50 push-ups!' Anna's cold voice is heard as Hao made his way to the garden. He heard a few familiar voices as well…(other than Yoh, Anna, Ren, Horohoro, and Amidamaru)

In the garden…

'Yoh! Faster or I'll add another 50 push-ups!'

'Awww….Anna…'

'Yoh, Finish it up will you! You still haven't fought with me yet!' Ren exclaimed.

'Ren…you shouldn't be so impatient…just relax…' Jun told the other Tao.

'Pilica, I'm tired! Give me a break!' the Ainu boy yelled in frustration.

'No, you need to train!' Pilica replied.

'I pity Yoh and Horohoro…' Manta told Amidamaru.

'Isn't it Yoh's birthday? Why does he need to train?' Silva asked. Karim was standing beside him.

'Silva, when did you get here?' Yoh stared at him.

'Yoh! Concentrate or I'll add 100 push-ups!'

'No!' Yoh immediately continued with his push-ups.

'Yoh, faster!' Anna told the boy.

'Onii-chan, faster!' Pilica told the Ainu boy. He was doing push-ups as well.

'Yoh, if that person finishes his training faster, I'm doubling your training understand!'

'Onii-chan, if Yoh finishes his training faster, I'm tripling your training!'

'Yoh, make it quick will you! I'm losing my patience!' Ren was fuming. Streams of tears were running down the face of both victim of hell training.

Jun sighed while the others watch the two in pity except for Ren who was fuming.

'What's all the fuss?' Hao asked.

Everyone's attention shifted to the older twin standing in front of them. Silva, Karim, Jun, and Pilica's eyes widened. Yoh and Horohoro collapsed in exhaustion but they also focused their gaze at the pyro shaman. For a moment there was silence.

'Hao!' Pilica and Jun suddenly exclaimed in horror.

Silva and Karim went into oversoul mode and stood in defensive position.

'What are you doing here Hao?' Silva asked coldly.

'I don't think I can answer that question Silva.' Hao replied nonchalantly.

'What are you talking about?' Karim asked.

'Simple. Because that's my question…' he shifted his gaze to his younger brother.

'Yoh, what happened yesterday and why am I here?' he glared at his twin expectantly. His arms were crossing over his chest and he tapped his foot impatiently. Yoh sat up and stared at his brother. He ignored his glare and smiled at him.

'Good morning Onii-chan.'

'That's not my question and good morning Otouto.'

'Onii-chan, have you taken your medicine?'

Hao blinked.  **'Medicine?'**

'Just as I thought…' Yoh sighed. Hao was getting confused by his words. Yoh stood up and dusted off the dirt in his pants.

'Onii-chan, let's go.' Yoh said as he pushed his twin inside the house.

'Huh? Where are you taking m-'

'You need to take medicine or your wounds won't recover. Now be good and go take your medicine. I'll be going with you just in case…' Yoh grinned at his brother as he pushed him into the sliding door that connected the garden and the house. Hao glared murderously at him but it didn't seem to affect the younger boy. He closed the door behind him and left the garden with his other twin. Silva and Karim stared at the door in which the two boys had walked in with surprise. Pilica was frozen on the spot, speechless. Jun was amused.

'Onii-chan, did you see what I just see?' Pilica asked.

'Yeah…' Horohoro replied. He was still gasping for air. He had already begun training in the wee hours of the morning with Yoh which was very tiring for the two of them had run 50 laps around the huge Asakura residence. Then, both Anna and Pilica would increase it from time to time as if they were aiming for the 'torturing people the most in one day' record. As soon as Anna increase two times Yoh's running, Pilica would increase three times, then Anna would increase four times and then it has been going on until Yoh asked Anna 'What about the push-ups?' and that's why the two of them was doing the push-up in the first place. Ren who was training himself became bored and wouldn't stop challenging Yoh which somehow made him glad for some reason.

'So what, he'd stolen my training partner away.' Ren said in his usual manner.

'Training?' Pilica muttered to herself. Had she forgotten something? Oh right. 'Onii-chan! You're supposed to continue doing your push-up!' she yelled at Horohoro.

'Give me a break Pilica! I'm dying!'

'Horohoro is right. It's about time you guys take a break.' Anna's cold voice interrupted.

The Ainu siblings and the others stared at the itako. Horohoro was very happy hearing her words. Little did he know the truth behind her action…

'We need a few cleaners to help Tamao to clean the whole house. Yoh's grandparents won't be able to help so you guys are gonna help. Got it?' Anna told them. Horohoro's face fell. He thought he was finally able to get some rest but apparently he had totally mistaken.

'I knew it…' Manta muttered to himself.

'Horohoro and Ren, you two are in charge of the cleanliness of every single room. Jun, you will help Ryu in the kitchen. Manta, you are in charge of the corridor. Pilica, you're gonna help me and Tamao do the decorations in the living hall. If there is anything wrong, the spirits from Funbari Onsen will report to me and you'll have me to answer to. Understand?'

* * *

'Damn it, why am I supposed to help!' Ren told the ice queen.

'Grr…how did Yoh actually cope up with that violen-' Horohoro was smacked in the head before he finished his sentence.

'Watch your mouth you idiot. We're being spied remember?' Ren told his friend as they walked past the corridor.

'Sighed…why is it that we always got slapped by her?' Horohoro said. The two boys unconsciously took their hands and placed them on their cheek.

'Well at least Silva and Karim is kind hearted enough to help us do the cleaning…' Ren responded.

-Flashback-

'Why am I supposed to help!' Ren told the ice queen.

'and how are we supposed to make sure that every room is clean in this MASSIVE house! We can't even find the bathroom!' Horohoro protested further.

_Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!_

'Y-Y-Yes…' Ren and Horohoro told Anna. Their cheeks were red. The others remained silent.

'Anyone wants to object further? I don't mind giving another slap...' she told the others.

Silence…

'No? Good. We must make sure we give our guest the best impression. And of course, I have to depend on you in many things Manta.' Anna turned to the boy. Manta sweat dropped.

'I want more advertisements and banners of Funbari Onsen and I want the Hanagumi's here before tomorrow.' the Itako said sternly.

The others stared at Manta sympathetically.

'I will defeat the economic crisis! Our battle has just begun!' Anna said as she grasped her beads.

'I knew it…' Manta thought to himself.

'Very clever…' Tamao whispered silently. Anna turned to the pink haired girl that was standing at the sliding door.

'Is there anything Tamao?' She asked her.

'U-U-Umm, Lyserg-san h-has j-j-just a-a-arrived.' Tamao stuttered. She covered her face with her kokkuri board as she blushed.

'Oh, is that so? Just in the right time, I'm thinking of finding someone to-' Anna's sentence was abruptly cut off by a loud bang that sounded from the kitchen. Everyone was startled and they quickly headed to the kitchen.

Anna stopped abruptly and turned to the others.

'You guys get to work. I'll handle this ALONE...' she emphasize on the word 'alone'.

They feared for the girl and so they began to walk in different directions other than the previous ones. As Ren and Horohoro walked away, Sliva stopped them and offered to help them.

-End of flashback-

'Chocolove was so lucky to have arrived late.' Horohoro told Ren as he opened the sliding doors of one room and the two of them went inside.

He turned to his friend when he didn't reply.

'Oi...Earth to Tao Ren...' Horohoro said and managed to snap him back to reality.

'Did you hear something just now?' Ren asked.

'Nope. What's wrong?'

'I thought I heard a few slaps.' Ren said and the two unconsciously took their hands and placed them on their cheek.

'DON'T REMIND ME OF HER!' Horohoro yelled.

* * *

In the kitchen…

'Hell no.' Hao replied blandly.

'Oh come on Onii-chan, we've done this before, the one you ate last time was also green remember?' Yoh held the spoon with a green liquid and try to put it into his mouth.

'The one you last gave me was not GREEN Otouto, its BLUE and not as gross as this one…' he told the younger boy as he and turned his head away from the spoon filled with the green liquid.

'Oh really, you still need to take your medicine though...'

'Don't wanna.' the older boy clamped his mouth.

'That's not gonna work on me. But since you hate medicine that badly…' Yoh trailed off as he slowly placed down the spoon that he was holding on the table. Hao stared at his twin with a questioning look. Then, his eyes widened. He tried to run but it was too late. Yoh abruptly got up from his seat and pinned him on the floor and sat on top of him. He held up the bottle filled with more green liquid and opened it with a 'pop' sound. Then, he clamped Hao's nose shut with his thumb and forefinger. The two stared each other down for a long while before Hao was forced to open his mouth for air. Yoh immediately stuffed the bottle of medicine into his mouth. He held his brother's head in place in case he tried to jerk away.

'Now you won't need to take the medicine anymore.' Yoh said as he stood up. Hao coughed a few times.

'WHY YOU LITTLE-' Hao's sentence was interrupted by a thud sound.

The twin shifted their gaze at a British boy whose luggage had dropped on the floor. He was staring at the long haired shaman with wide eyes. Silence.

'Hao!' the green haired boy exclaimed.

**'Here we go again.'** Hao thought tiredly.

* * *

 

'Finally…' Lyserg said as he stood at the entrance of the Asakura residence.

He knocked the door and then footsteps were heard approaching the door. The door opened and a girl with pink hair bowed at him.

'W-W-Welcome…' the girl stuttered and she blushed furiously at him.

'Hello, Tamao-san. Where are the others?' he asked.

'I-I-In the garden, w-w-would you like to see them?' she asked the green haired boy.

'No need, I'll greet them later. Besides, Anna is probably training with him so I better not interrupt.' At the mention of her name, chills ran down his spine.

'T-T-The journey m-m-must have been long, w-would you like to go t-t-to your room?' she stuttered.

'Well, okay. Just tell me how to get there before you go and inform others about my arrival.' He told her and she blushed.

After being given the information, he had walked pass the corridor and finally arrived at his destination. He stood there for a moment when he heard voices from inside the room. At first he thought he had misheard one of the voices as _'his'_  but after a while, he froze when he heard sounds of something fallen. He regained his composure after a moment and slid open the door. He froze at what he saw. Yoh was straddling on Hao with a small bottle on his hands. Then, he slowly removed himself from him.

'Now you won't need to take the medicine anymore.' Yoh said as he stood up.

'WHY YOU LITTLE-'

Lyserg dropped his luggage on the floor with a thud sound thus prevented him from finishing his sentence and attracting the attention of the twins.

'HAO!' he exclaimed. There was silence. Yoh gulped nervously.

'Hello, Lyserg.' Hao said waved casually. 

'WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!' the English boy exclaimed.

'Lyserg, I can explain…' Yoh told the green haired boy but it was too late. He attacked his brother with his oversoul but Hao barely managed to dodge causing a cut in his shoulder and the attack hit the wall with a loud bang. A portion of the wall toppled on the floor.

'You know, she isn't going to be happy with that hole inside the kitchen.' Hao told his little brother as he pointed at the hole with his finger. Yoh knew immediately who he is referring to and panicked at the thought of her deadly slap. He had to stop this fight immediately.

'Lyserg, please stop!' Yoh told his friend.

'NO!'

'But I 'm not ready to die!' Yoh said pleadingly.

'Huh?' Lyserg looked at him questioningly.

'He meant he wasn't ready to die by Anna's deadly slap.' Hao responded and Yoh nodded immediately.

'Oh…right.' Lyserg said and Yoh sighed relieved.

Suddenly, he attacked Hao and sent him crashing on the door connected to the backyard.

'THEN I'LL FIGHT YOU HERE!' Lyserg said and he began launching attacks on Hao. However, all Hao did was dodge his attacks. Yoh looked at them concerned but at the same time he was relieved that his brother did not attack his friend. However, Hao was getting tired and he was beginning to have difficulties in dodging the dowser's attack. After a while, Lyserg managed to penetrate through his weakened defense and gave him a few cuts. Finally, the pendulum managed to cut his leg and therefore causing him to stumble on the floor.

'Onii-chan!' Yoh called out to his brother.

Lyserg was about to give him the final blow when someone launched an attack on him out of nowhere and cut off the wires connected to the pendulum.

'Lyserg, stop this right now.' A voice demanded.

Lyserg gasped at the two figures that he saw. The crystal pendulum that he was holding fell on the floor. There was a long and uncomfortable silence. Lyserg remained silent and stared at them with complete and utter surprise. Then, tears began rolling down his cheek.

'Mom…dad…'

'We missed you Lyserg…' her mother told him as she embraced him in her arms. His father placed his hands in his wife's shoulder before turning to his son.

'Lyserg, you have grown stronger. I'm very proud of you.' he said. They remained in that position until Hao began coughing loudly. They turned their attention on the long haired shaman that was sitting on the floor with a few cuts on his body.

'Are you going to stand like that forever?' Hao replied. Yoh who was watching the scene was snapped back to reality and immediately rushed towards his older brother. He realized that the bandage on his wounds had stains of blood on it.

'Onii-chan, you're bleeding! '

'No, I'm fine.' Hao retorted.

Lyserg released himself from the embrace and he went towards the two boys. His parents followed.

'What is going on!' Anna's cold voice rang through the yard.

* * *

 

'The cut on his leg and his shoulders is a little deep so it needs a little while for it to heal.' Faust told the twins as he replaced the bandage on his wounds.

'I'm fine Yoh. Don't give me that look.' Hao told his younger brother.

'No, you're not fine.' Yoh countered.

'Yes, I am.' The older boy replied.

'Oh, come on Onii-chan. There is no need to be so stubborn. We're brothers after all.'

'I'm not stubborn.' Hao told the younger boy.

'Yes you are.' Yoh retorted.

'No I'm not.' Hao shot back.

Yoh sighed. He can't really blame him. He had always been like that thanks to his superiority complex. Faust simply watched the scene with amusement. Just then, someone knocked on the door.

'Come in.' the twins said in unison.

Lyserg went into the room with his parents behind him. Hao glanced at him impassively. He approached Hao and turn to his parents. The two of them nodded and Lyserg sighed.

'I'm sorry I attacked you at the kitchen. Will you forgive me?'

Hao raised an eyebrow. He turned away feeling awkward.

'Don't need to apologize to me. I once killed your parents after all so now, we're just even.' Hao replied nonchalantly. Lyserg stared at him surprised for a moment. Then, he smiled as he stared at Hao for a long moment.

'What?' Hao asked the English boy somehow annoyed.

'Nothing in particular.' He said and his smile widened.

**[You really have changed that's all. It's sort of hard to believe.]**  Lyserg purposely thought in his mind and Hao scowled at him. Yoh just stared at the two of them with a confused expression.

'You both seemed to get along pretty well.' Yoh said.

'No we did not.' Hao replied almost immediately.

'Yes you did.' Yoh responded.

'No we did not.' Hao countered and glared at his twin. Lyserg and his parents chuckled at their behavior. Faust was oblivious to the happenings around him as he was staring at his Eliza the whole time.

'Well then, we'll be going. You both can continue to enjoy your little yes and no argument.' Lyserg said and chuckled again. Faust and Eliza also stood up preparing to leave them.

Lyserg's parents went out of the room after Faust and Eliza. Lyserg followed them but he suddenly stopped midway and turned to the twins.

'By the way, happy birthday Asakura twins.' Lyserg said and went out of the room.

'Oh no, I totally forgot!' Yoh suddenly panicked.

'I see nothing wrong with that.' Hao replied blandly.

'But I'm not the first one to wish you…' Yoh said disappointed.

Hao raised an eyebrow. 'Me neither.' He replied Yoh blinked and then he chuckled at his behaviour.

'Onii-chan?'

'What is it Otouto?'

'Ummm…do you still wish to…create the shaman kingdom and ummm…'

**[Annihilate all humans?]** Hao thought to his younger brother.

'Yes…' Yoh replied. Hao stared at him with an unreadable expression.

'Do you really want to know it so badly?' Yoh nodded. Hao sighed and Yoh began to fear that he had asked the wrong question. There was a long silence as the question was left hanging in the air.

'No. Not for me.' Hao finally answered.

'Huh?' Yoh was so surprised that he thought he misheard.

'I don't repeat things twice Yoh.' Hao told his brother.

Yoh was so happy and astonished at the same time. He gave his older brother a hug.

'Ouch.'

'Opps. Sorry…' Yoh scratched his head.

Meanwhile, Lyserg was leaning against the wall near sliding door listening to their conversation. A smile creased his lips as he walked away from the place.

**'Is this really the great Asakura Hao that I once known?'** Lyserg chuckled as he left.

 


	5. What's a Party without Party Crashers?

'God, this place is huge. We'll never finish this…' Horohoro told Ren.

'Shut up or we'll never finish this.' Ren told the Ainu boy as they went into another room.

They slid open the door and froze when they saw Lyserg, Yoh, and Hao together cleaning the place. There were bandages covering Hao's shoulders and legs. Judging by its surroundings and a hole on the wall a fight had taken place. Ren was about to ask what had happened but someone beat him to it.

'Woah, what happened in here?' Horohoro asked.

'Lyserg and Hao had a fight.' Yoh said as he turned to face them. They noticed there were red marks on his cheeks indicating that he had been slapped by the Itako.

'Yoh! What happened to your face?!' Horohoro exclaimed and suddenly everyone stared at him with a you-are-so-doomed look. He turned to Ren and realized that he was a few meters away from him. He began to sweat.

'She's right behind me right?' he said nervously and everyone nodded to his demise.

_Smack!_

* * *

 'I wonder if i-i-it's alright to have A-A-Anna-sama handling t-things on her own?' Tamao said warily as she handed one of the decorations to Pilica.

'She'll be fine. She's strong enough to handle the boys. You've seen it as well right?' Pilica said and Tamao immediately understand what she was referring to.

'I just hope they are fine. I mean you heard those slaps right?' Pilica said and Tamao nodded.

'They're fine. I'm not as ruthless as Hao.' Anna's voice startled the two girls.

'A-A-Anna-sama…' Tamao called the girls name.

'Well, let's finish this before the other guest arrived. We don't have much time.' Pilica said and they continued working on the decorations.

* * *

'He's so different from the last time. Somehow, I find it difficult to believe.' Silva said and the Asakura's (all members of the Asakura are there except for Yoh and Hao) nodded in agreement.

'Me neither. He was so ruthless in the past.' Mikihisa said.

'But I still can't trust him! Even if he had changed he was still Hao! He was only pretending to be nice! If it wasn't for Yoh, I would have never wanted him here again! Ever!' Yohmei hissed in frustration.

'Not even when he had changed?' Kino asked.

Yohmei paused briefly before answering hesitantly 'No.'

Silva noticed that Keiko was affected by his father's words. He wasn't sure as to whether Mikihisa was having the same reaction as he was wearing a mask. Despite what Yohmei had said does makes sense, he could see that Keiko did not think that way. In truth, even he himself had not thought that way. Not after seeing how much he had changed…

'But I believed in him father.' Keiko told Yohmei and everyone shifted their attention on her.

'Keiko, do you understand what you're saying?' Yohmei said in a cold voice.

'Of course I do. If Yoh can accept him as an older brother, then I as well can accept him as my son. Just like Yoh…'

'No, I cannot accept him! I will never accept him! He was a disgrace to our family! He shouldn't be living in the first place!' Yohmei exclaimed.

'It's true that he had changed but that does not mean his past can be forgotten so simply.' Kino said.

'That's right. We can't simply accept him just because he had changed because no matter what, he was still Asakura Hao and that fact will never change even in a million years. He still has to be destroyed.' Yohmei said.

Mikihisa remained silent.

'But then, what about Yoh?' Silva asked.

'He should be able to understand. It's for his own good.' Yohmei said.

'Can you really be sure that he would understand your intention?' Mikihisa interrupted after being silent for a long time.

'Of course he would! Why not?' Yohmei said in a cold manner.

'Have you forgotten what happened to Yoh when Hao left him?' Mikihisa replied.

'That's why we must destroy him! He would have lived a much happier life without him!'

* * *

Horohoro's faced was so red and swollen as Yoh began to apply some medicine on his face to help with the pain.

'Ouch! That hurts!' Horohoro said and jerked his head away from the cotton ball filled with medicine.

'Bear with it if you want it to recover.' Hao said blandly as he fixed the door that he had crashed onto while fighting with Lyserg.

'You shouldn't have said that in the first place Horohoro.' Lyserg said as he tried to fix the hole on the wall.

'How am I supposed to know that she's right behind me!' he yelled and hissed in pain.

'Well, if you're more alert then you will know Boroboro.' Ren emphasized on his name.

'Shut up, shark head.'

'It's no use arguing over this. Yoh, quickly finish with him and help us fix this mess. They themselves have their own work to finish.' Hao told them.

'US???' Lyserg and Yoh said in unison. The pyro shaman simply turned away feeling awkward. It had been happening very frequently when he was at the Asakura residence.

'The great Asakura Hao actually used the word 'us'?' Lyserg said in a teasing tone. Ren and Horohoro smirked.

'I wonder if the world is going to end soon?' Horohoro added.

'Or maybe it's just a mere dream?' Ren said and the three of them try to refrain themselves from laughing out loud.

'Come on you guy's, stop teasing Onii-chan already.' Yoh said.

'I'm done fixing the door.' Hao said and immediately left the room.

'Wait, Onii-chan!' Yoh went after him but he was gone.

Horohoro and Lyserg began laughing. Ren simply smirked.

'Did you guys see that! He was blushing!' Horohoro said.

'and I thought he was no fun at all…' Lyserg added and they started laughing again.

'That's not very nice you know, though I have to admit…' Yoh's voice trailed off. 'Onii-chan looks kind of cute when he's blushing…' he whispered and all of them laughed.

* * *

'Damn it.' Hao hissed in frustration as he fixed his gaze on the floor. He had immediately teleported himself as soon as he went out of the room in case Yoh went after him. He sighed and continued walking until he arrived at an entrance to a room. He heard a few voices from inside the room. Suddenly, he heard his grandfather's voice.

'No, I cannot accept him! I will never accept him! He was a disgrace to our family!' Yohmei exclaimed.

'It's true that he had changed but that does not mean his past can be forgotten so simply.' Kino said.

'That's right. We can't simply accept him just because he had changed because no matter what, he was still Asakura Hao and that fact will never change even in a million years. He still has to be destroyed' Yohmei said.

'But then, what about Yoh?' Silva asked.

'He should be able to understand. It's for his own good.' Yohmei said.

'Can you really be sure that he would understand your intention?' Mikihisa interrupted after being silent for a long time.

'Of course he would! Why not?' Yohmei said in a cold manner.

'Have you forgotten what happened to Yoh when Hao left him?' Mikihisa replied.

'That's why we must destroy him! He would have lived a much happier life without him!'

After hearing the older Asakura's words, he silently walked away and teleported to another place.

* * *

 'Finally, is done.' Pilica said satisfied with her work.

'I-I-It's beautiful A-A-Anna-sama.' Tamao stuttered.

'Alright, now that we are done with the hall--' the Itako's words were abruptly cut off by the rang of the doorbell.

'I'll get it.' Pilica said cheerfully.

She opened the door and saw Chocolove.

'Chocolove, long time no see. How are you?' Pilica asked.

'Hi Pilica, long time no see. Want to hear one of my new joke--' his sentence was cut off when Anna suddenly shot him a death glare. He swallowed nervously. Pilica also noticed her death glare.

'Well, maybe later. Now's not the time…' she said and Chocolove understand what she had meant.

'Alright, why don't you go to your room first. Tamao will show you the way.' She turned to Tamao who nodded.

'T-T-This way…' she said and left the hall with Chocolove following her from behind.

'Now that we're done with the hall, we should go and check on the boys. If I ever found them slacking off I will make them run 50 laps… ' Anna said in a threatening tone as she walked out of the room. Pilica followed her from behind.

Suddenly Anna stopped walking and Pilica accidentally bumped into her. She turned to the direction where Anna was looking and saw Hao sitting on a stone bench that was facing a lake. He threw a small pebble into the lake and sighed.

'It's not like you to be in such a depressed state.' Anna said bluntly as she walked towards the fire shaman.

Hao turned to the blond girl and glanced at her impassively. He then shifted his gaze to Pilica who stood behind Anna. Pilica just stared at him and remained silent. He then stood up with his back facing them.

'Why am I here in the first place?' he suddenly asked. His tone was more of a demand than a request.

'You fainted so Yoh--'

'Why am I here?' his tone became cold and threatening.

Pilica became frightened and couldn't help but walk a few step backwards. Anna sighed and told Pilica to help her check on the boys instead of her. Pilica immediately nodded and left the place.

'You haven't answer my question.' Hao said coldly without turning to face her.

'The main reason you're still in this residence is mainly because Yoh wanted you to come. Therefore--'

'you comply to his wishes and brought me here without my consent.' Hao finished.

'Yoh have brought you here without your permission because you fainted. How is he going to ask you when you're not even conscious.'

'Don't lie. It was you who came up with this plan right?'

'Don't call me by my first name. I wouldn't have done that if it wasn't for Yoh.'

'I see. So, it really is for your convenience.' Hao said and smirked.

'That is to be precise. The other reason is that you fainted and Yoh end up bringing you here.' Anna responded.

'You are the one who did it aren't you?' he asked.

'No, I only came up with the idea. The one who handled this wasn't me.'

'Really…who is it then?'

'He was your ex-comrade in shaman fight.' For a moment Hao was surprised but he managed to hide it from the Itako. Luchist wanted him to come to Izumo?

'I see. Thank you for the information.'

'If you want to thank me then you better make yourself useful in this house. There are dishes in the kitchen that is needed to be washed, after finishing the dishes you can spend your time training with Yoh. Got it?' Anna asked in her usual cold manner.

'Fine. Like you, I'm only doing it for Yoh.' He said casually.

'You better not slack or you'll have me to answer to…' she said in a threatening tone and walked away.

 **['I'm going to kill him when I get back']** he thought to himself as he went into the direction where Anna had just left.

* * *

'Where exactly did he go?' Yoh asked no one in particular as he walked pass the hallway.

While in the kitchen, Pilica had appeared and informed them about Chocolove's arrival and she also warned them that Anna was on her way there and Yoh had quickly left the place to find his older brother while Ren and Horohoro also left the place to resume their work on checking the cleanliness of every single room in this residence. Lyserg was still fixing the hole in the kitchen and Pilica had offered to help him. None of them had dared to disobey the blond so far and Yoh felt pity for them.

_ushi tora no kanata yori umareshi mi nareba…_

_yami no uchi_

_iku-dama, ashi-dama,shini kaeshi-dama_

_oni mochi ni kazari aka iro no tate hoko wo matsure_

Suddenly Yoh heard someone singing and stopped in the hallway. He focused on listening to the voice.

_oira ka ni mukaibi tsuke yaki shirizokete_

_yami no uchi_

_uzu no ki, hiiragi, nuritenoki_

_ri ga hi ni otsureba kuro iro mono matsure_

It sounded like Hao's voice but Yoh wasn't sure. He followed the source of the voice and finally came to a stop in front of a shoji door. The voice was clearly heard and there were shuffling noises inside.

_mahoroba wa "yasuraka na ramu" kashin fuu_

_ayakashi tote to hore totemo kakutemo_

He opened the door and saw Hao washing the dish while singing. (Hao was in the other kitchen that was on the other side of the mansion.) Hao stopped singing and turned to face him. Yoh remained silent and stared at him for long moments.

'What?' Hao finally broke the silence.

Yoh was snapped back to reality and he scratched the back of his head.

'Nothing… It just that…uhh…I didn't know you could sing so well…' he grinned sheepishly.

Hao said nothing and continued washing the dish but this time he didn't sing anymore. Yoh took a seat and watched him silently. There was a long silence as Hao continued to wash the dishes and Yoh watched him in silence.

'Can I help?' Yoh finally said after the long moments of silence.

Hao turned and stared at him for a moment. He then held up a piece of dry cloth and threw it in Yoh's direction before he continued washing the dish. Yoh caught the cloth and went beside his older brother. He took a plate from the stack of dish and began cleaning it dry with the cloth while Hao continued to scrub the dish in the bubble-filled sink. Yoh looked at Hao who was seemingly concentrating on scrubbing the dish.

'Onii-chan?'

'Yes?'

'What was the name of the song that you sang just now?'

'Inyou no Chigiri.'

'Can you-'

'No.'

'I'm not-'

'-finished yet.'

'Don't finish-'

'-my sentence. I can read minds remember?'

'Oh, that's right…but still-'

'No.'

'Come on Onii-chan, don't be so mean…it's my birthday after all…please?' Yoh gave him a pleading look.

Hao stared at his younger brother. He sighed.

'Alright, but after I'm done with the dishes okay?' He said. Yoh's face brightened and he hugged his brother.

'Thank you Onii-chan!'

Suddenly, Hao's eyes widened and he pushed Yoh roughly away sending him out of the room. Yoh was confused by his sudden action.

'What are you doing to my son Hao!' Mikihisa who had just passed by exclaimed as he had seen what had happened just now.

Yohmei, Keiko, Silva, and Karim had also witnessed the scene in surprise as they stood behind Yohmei and Kino.

'I knew it! You're just pretending all this ti-' before Yohmei could actually finish, their questions got an answer and Yoh wished he hadn't knew it.

A huge sword came out of nowhere and crashed the ceiling and onto Hao. Hao couldn't evade it in time and the sword barely grazed his shoulder as he fell onto the floor.

'Aww come on!' He growled in frustration.

'Onii-chan!' Yoh exclaimed and ran towards the pyro shaman.

'Stay away, Yoh!'

The next thing he knew the whole ceiling had crashed onto his older brother.

'ONII-CHAN!'

'That was a little different from what I had expected.' A voice said from behind.

Everyone shifted their gaze to the source of the voice. Then there was light and Marco made an entrance in a flashy way.

'WHY DID YOU DO THAT?' Yoh asked angrily.

'We thought that demon was finally delivered its judgement but it seems like he has not. You, Asakura Yoh had accepted him and aid him in his recovery and therefore you must be punished as well. Now that he had been punished you're the next one. Asakura Yoh, prepare to be punished.' Marco pushed up his glasses and aimed his gun towards Yoh.

'Whoa! What happened here Yoh!' Horohoro suddenly yelled.

'Idiot.' Ren muttered under his breath.

Yoh realized that everyone had gathered together.

'Marco-san what are you doing here!' Lyserg asked.

'I am here to deliver Hao and Yoh judgement.'

'But Marco-san, Hao wasn't a bad person anymore.' Yoh said suddenly.

Marco was shocked to hear his words.

'He is EVIL!' he said and the lens of his glasses cracked.

'Well then, I'll explain it in eight simple words. He. Does. Not. Kill. Humans. Anymore.' Yoh replied.

'That's only six. Didn't you learn Maths in school?'

'You. Idiot. There, eight words. Don't interrupt until I've finished my sentence.' Yoh retorted.

The boys all smirked sarcastically while Anna wore a smug expression on her face. The other girls chuckled including Keiko. Yohmei, Kino and Mikihisa were dumbfounded. Since when did Yoh learn to speak in such a way?

'Damn you Asakura Yoh!' Marco's angel held up its sword and was about to attack Yoh when Spirit of fire suddenly appeared and caught the sword.

'IF YOU EVEN LAID A FINGER ON HIS HAIR YOU'RE DEAD.' came a scary voice.

They shifted their gaze onto the kitchen that had crashed and Hao had staggered himself up and they could see that his clothes were terribly torn. There were stains of blood on certain parts of his body. Especially his shoulder that had been wounded by Lyserg earlier.

'Onii-chan!' Yoh called out and ran towards his brother.

'Spirit of fire, finish him off.'

'No! Don't kill him!' Yoh begged his brother.

Hao blinked for a few moments.

'I just want to knock him out that's all…' Hao replied silently so that only Yoh could hear and avoided the younger boy's gaze.

Yoh blinked a few times before a smile began to curve his lips.

'Spirit of fire.'

The spirit attacked the angel and sliced it into three with its claws. Hao stumbled upon his knees and clutched his head. Yoh knelt down and supported him. His Spirit of fire then disappeared into thin air.

'You need a lot more than that to defeat me Hao. In your condition you definitely won't be able to do it.' Marco said and created a new oversoul of his angel and attacked. Ren, Horohoro, Ryu, Lyserg, and Chocolove stepped forward and went into oversoul mode and then they were about to attack him until…

'Marco, stop this fight immediately.' came a voice out of nowhere.

Marco froze and he was so shocked that his oversoul turned back into a bullet and fell on the floor.

'M-M-M-Maiden-sama! What are you doing here?'

'That's our question captain four-eyes.'

This time the cracked lens of his spectacles had popped out of the frame. Standing behind the iron maiden was the other X-Law's member that had passed away during the tournament. They were not floating but they were standing there and he can't see pass through their bodies at all. They were wearing normal clothing unlike Marco who was wearing his X-Laws uniform. Jeanne wore a white dress.

'What the HELL is going on?' Marco exclaimed as he pointed accusingly at the member that was once dead.

'They just got revived that's all.' Liam suddenly said and surprised everyone.

'Dad, do you know something?' Lyserg asked.

'Well, I think you better ask him.' He said and focused his gaze on Hao who was no longer clutching his head but was glaring murderously at the dowser instead. 

Jeanne walked towards the pyro shaman and was about to help him up when Marco suddenly stopped her.

'Jeanne-sama! Don't go near that sinner! He is evil and dangerous!' Marco said loudly.

'He is NOT evil Marco!' Yoh shot back.

'No! He was evil! He is still evil and he will always be evil!' Marco said.

SMACK!

Everyone was utterly surprised that it wasn't Anna who did the work. It was Jeanne…

'Marco, show some benevolence will you? It was true that he was once evil but he had already repented for his sins. You can see it for yourself.'

As soon as she finished her speech, a woman came into the room. She has green eyes and her golden hair had light curls at the bottom. She was cuddling a little baby that looked exactly like Marco except for the green eyes and standing behind her was a little girl with blue eyes and her silky golden hair was at shoulder's length. She was tugging at the woman's dress.

'It has been a long while since we last met has it not, Marco?' she spoke.

Suddenly, the girl that was tugging at the woman's dress ran towards Marco and wrapped her little arms on him. Her eyes were teary.

'We missed you daddy…'

Everyone (except Hao and the member's of X-Laws) gapped.

'DADDY?' they exclaimed in unison.

Marco was silent. Then, he hugged her daughter. Stream of tears were rolling down his cheeks.

'I miss you too Maria…'

He then stood up and went towards her wife.

She passed the infant to the little girl before the two couple hugged each other affectionately.

'Victoria…I miss you so much.'

'Marco…I miss you too.'

They continued hugging each other and the others watched the scene in silent until...

'Daddy, why is that girl sleeping on the floor?' The girl named Maria asked as she held his little brother in one of her hands while pointing at the figure that was lying on the floor with the other hand.

'Onii-chan!' Yoh who had totally forgotten about his brother was snapped back to reality.

Faust who had also forgotten about the presence of the pyro shaman immediately gave him his needed treatment. Jeanne and the X-Laws members went to assist him. Meanwhile, Maria stared questioningly at them without understanding what are they doing.

'I think you owe him an apology…' Victoria said as she turned to face his husband.

* * *

A few hours later.... 

'I'm fine.' He said blandly.

' _Sigh_ …do you have to be so stubborn even in times like this?' Yoh asked.

'Yes.' He replied.

'Can't you drop that 'tough guy act' habit of yours?'

'Nope.'

'Not even once?'

'Nope.'

'For an hour?'

'Nope.'

Yoh placed his hand on his hips.

'Have you ever seen a child of our age?' Yoh asked his brother.

'No--yes.'

'Have you seen how they act like?' Yoh emphasized on the word 'act'.

Hao suddenly glared at him.

'In case you forgot, I'm not a child Yoh. I'm one thousand years old.' He said.

'On the contrary you are Hao. You're in the body of a fifteen year old boy remember?'

'So what? That still doesn't mean I am a child.'

'See? You're always being so stubborn. Then, you're in 'tough guy act mode' all the time. Even Ren wasn't as stubborn as you do though I still have to admit he was in the 'tough guy act mode' sometimes.'

'I'm not stubborn.'

'There you go again…' he said and shook his head.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Marco didn't wait for the two boys to give him the permission and entered the room as soon as he had knocked on the door. He went towards Hao and simply ignored Yoh as he walked pass the younger boy. He bowed at Hao.

'Sorry for ambushing you.' He said and immediately walked out of the room without waiting for a reply. The disturbed look on his face was surprisingly funny in Yoh's opinion.

After he had left the room, Yoh was about to burst out laughing when suddenly someone beat him to it.

It was a very quiet and stifled laughter that died as soon as it came.

Yoh blinked and stared at his brother with a confused expression. It was the first time he actually heard his brother laugh genuinely instead of his usual maniacal laugh. He enjoyed watching it though. His body was trembling terribly as he tried to refrain himself from laughing. Suddenly he stopped and his eyes turned wide with shock. He quickly turned away from Yoh. Yoh could have sworn he saw his brother blushing. He couldn't help but to burst out laughing at his brother's behavior and the disturbed look on his face.

'WHAT?!' Hao said annoyed with his other twin.

'I didn't know you were so FUNNY!' he managed between chuckles.

He fell on the floor laughing and punched the floor with his fists. Hao who was getting more annoyed took the pillow that he was leaning on and threw it at his laughing younger brother. He sighed as the younger boy could not stop laughing at him. He stood up and went towards the door before sliding it open and walked out of the room.

'Onii-chan, wait!' he tried to refrain himself from laughing but he could hardly manage as he kept laughing thinking of his brother's behavior. It was the first time he had actually laughed that much. He wanted to follow him but it wasn't possible as he could hardly move from the spot due to laughing too much.

* * *

The doorbell rang and Yohmei went to open the door as the others were too busy fixing the damages at the kitchen. It was almost done by now. The only kitchen left intact was the one close to the living room where Ryu had prepared all kinds of food for the guest with the assistance of Jun and later Tamao who helped in making desserts. Most of the guest that arrived was served by the Hanagumi who had arrived after the fight between Marco and Hao had taken place. Right now, the only thing left was to finish up fixing the kitchen and to wait for the birthday boys.

He opened the door and saw no one…

'Opacho is down here.' a voice said.

Yohmei looked down and saw the little boy holding a kitten in his hands waving at him. He closed the door and walked away pretending he didn't see anything.

* * *

'Onii-chan!' Yoh called out as he tried to catch up with him.

Hao sighed exasperatedly.

'Now what?'

'You need to change your clothes! You can't go out and confront people wearing that! It's your birthday!'

'Who said I was going to celebrate my birthday? I'm leaving.' Hao said and walked away.

'WHAT?!'

He ran pass Hao and stop in front of him. He spread his arms sideways.

'No! I'm not going to let you leave!'

Hao blinked.

'and how are you supposed to do that?' the question had took Yoh by surprise.

'Now that you mentioned it…How am I supposed to do that?' he placed his hand on his chin and started thinking on how to stop Hao from leaving. Little did he know that Hao had already left that place…

* * *

'Where THE HELL are they?!' Anna said angrily. Tamao was following her from behind.

She had saw Yoh when she was on her way to the living room and he had told her that he was with his brother and he will meet her in the hall soon but he had not appeared even after TWO hours. Anna and his friends were now looking for him throughout the whole mansion. As Anna turned to the corner, he bumped into Yoh.

'WHERE WERE YOU?! YOU'VE BEEN MISSING FOR HOURS!'

'S-S-Sorry Anna, I was looking for Onii-chan. Ah…ONII-CHAN!'

'What's wrong?'

'HE SAID HE WAS LEAVING! I GOT TO STOP HIM!' before Anna could say anything the boy had ran away.

Anna sighed.

' _He's_  such a troublesome man…' she muttered under her breath.

'Tamao, use your kokkuri board to find Hao.'

'Y-Y-Yes, Anna-sama.'

She quickly put down the board. She knelt down and immediately started to work. After a long silence, she turned to Anna.

'He's at the garden in the west side of the house.' Tamao said.

'Thank you, Tamao. Now go and inform Yoh on his whereabouts and I'll meet you in the hall.'

'Yes, Anna-sama.'

* * *

Hao slide open the door and walked into the garden that was located at the west side of the house. He walked silently and sat on the stone bench that was facing the lake.

'You can come out now.' Hao's voice was cold and void of any emotion.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard and the silhouette of a person is seen. However, the mysterious figure is vaguely seen in the darkness of the night.

'Why acting so cold? It spoils your cuteness you know…' the figure said. What's surprising about it was that it sounded like a boy at the age of fourteen to fifteen.

'What do you want?' Hao crossed his arms. 'The last time we talked you said it's fine for me to stay for a while.'

The figure shrugged. 'I just wanted to visit my  _precious family_  that's all. Ah…speaking of family, your  _precious little Otouto_  seems really attached to you…'

Hao glared at the figure.

'DON'T YOU EVEN DARE TOUCH HIM! HE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!' Hao said angrily.

' _Nothing_  to do with this??? Oh no…he was already involved in this since the end of the tournament. He was already involved with this the moment he had  _killed_  you. Have you forgotten?' the figure asked.

The atmosphere suddenly became unusually tense. The figure sighed dramatically.

'It seems like your  _precious Otouto_  is on his way here…well then, we shall meet again and I shall meet that  _precious little Otouto_  as well.' The figure said.

'What?!' Hao stared at the figure with shock.

'Until then, you should spend more time with him rather than avoiding him because.…your time is running out. I don't think I need to tell you why because you already know the answer better than anyone else…' the figure said and disappeared in a lick of flames.

The door slid open and Hao turned to the direction of the door. Yoh was gasping for air and Lyserg and Tamao was standing behind him doing the same thing.

' **Until then, you should spend more time with him rather than avoiding him because.…your time is running out. I don't think I need to tell you why because you already know the answer better than anyone else…'** Hao thought back to what  _he_  had just said.

'Onii-chan...thank god I finally found you.'

'Everyone was looking everywhere for you! What exactly are you doing standing in the middle of the garden?!' Lyserg said as he continued gasping for air.

'Sorry.'

The three of them fell silent. They hadn't misheard it right? Hao was saying SORRY?! Hao read their minds and continued…

'I said I was sorry. You didn't misheard anything.' He said and turned away feeling awkward for the fourth time today.

Lyserg and Yoh stared at each other before a sly grin made its way onto their faces. They went towards Hao and Yoh went in front of him while Lyserg stood behind him.

'Well then, for your punishment …' Lyserg's voice trailed off.

Suddenly, Yoh grabbed Hao's hand and pulled him from the front while Lyserg pushed him from behind making him to walk out of his own will.

'Firstly, you must go take a bath.' Lyserg said as the boys forcefully motioned Hao back into the house.

'Wha--'

'After that, I'll replace your bandages…' Yoh added.

'Wait!'

'Then, you must change your clothes.' Lyserg continued.

'and then we're going to celebrate our birthday together and you must be there all the time until the end of our celebration. No slacking.' Yoh said as he turned to his brother giving him his trademark grin.

'They won't want me there.' Hao suddenly said and the two boys stopped moving.

'It's alright Onii-chan. Everything will work out.' Yoh said and continued to pull him by the hand while Lyserg continue to push him with both of his hands.

* * *

'Where is Yoh?' Yohmei asked Anna. His patience was getting thinner every second. The party have ended and they were only waiting for the birthday boys to blow their candles yet his grandson was still nowhere to be seen.

'He's probably with Hao.' Anna replied.

'Damn it. It's always him.' Yohmei said angrily.

Suddenly the room became silent. Too silent…

'What's going on--' Yohmei turned and he fell silent.

Standing there was Yoh, Hao, Lyserg and Tamao. The birthday boys were wearing the same clothing and they had their hair in ponytail position. The surprising part is that Yoh and Hao looked so alike that they most probably won't recognize which of the two was Yoh if their hair were at the same length. Both of them were wearing the same clothes and Hao was trying to adjust his shirt. Yoh scratched the back of his head.

'Ummm…hi?' Yoh grinned and nudged Hao. Hao stared at his brother for a moment and heaved a sigh.

'Sorry we're late.' He tried to hide the anger in his voice but to no avail.

Many stared at the long haired shaman with wide eyes and distrust. Suddenly, Hao's eyes narrowed and he looked in every direction as if he was looking for someone.

'Is there something wrong?' Lyserg asked.

He walked past the crowd and went towards the door. As soon as he opened it he saw Opacho was sitting there sobbing with her cat beside her as if it was trying to comfort her by nudging her.

'Opacho, what are you doing there?! Where's Luchist?!' Hao exclaimed.

' _sniff sniff_ …H-H-Hao-sama…' Opacho called out as he went and hugged his legs. The cat also went and nudged Hao's legs.

'I'm going to kill Luchist when I get back.' He muttered under his breath.

'Didn't I tell you to ring the doorbell Opacho?' Hao asked gently.

'Opacho did…but that Ojiisan didn't let me in…' Opacho said as he pointed towards Yohmei's direction. Everyone shifted their attention towards the old man.

'O-Ojiichan, did you actually do that?' 

'Yes.'

Yoh stared at his grandfather disbelievingly.

Hao shot him a death glare and Yohmei winced slightly.

'Do you want to get BURNED Asakura Yohmei?' he said venomously.

'NO! You can't burn him!' Yoh said.

Hao sighed. He shouldn't have come here in the first place. This is nothing but a waste of time. He turned to Opacho and patted him on the head.

'The next time if you want to come in, just ignore them and go okay?' Hao simply said as he ignored the others.

'What if they won't let me?' Opacho asked.

'If they were to do anything to you, just tell me and I'll take care of it.' He said reassuringly.

'Who do you think you are Hao?! This isn't your house!' Yohmei said angrily.

'On the contrary it was my house. In case you forgotten, onmyouji Asakura Hao built it a thousand years ago.' Hao said sarcastically. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Yoh a little disappointed at the way things were going downhill. He heaved a sigh.

'Look, I'm not going to argue with you anymore. If you wanted to get rid of me so badly you should just finish this up quickly. Right Yoh?' Hao stared at his little brother. Yoh blinked.

'I'm not a patient person so make it fast.' He said and crossed his arms. Yoh smiled happily as he pulled his brother towards the table where the cake is placed. Keiko began to light up the candles. Then, they sang happy birthday song. After that, Yoh began to make a wish while Hao stood there and waited like the others. Yoh realized it when he opened his eyes and saw Hao staring at him doing nothing.

'Onii-chan, did you make a wish?' Hao blinked and stared at him with pure confusion.

The others were confused as well as they whispered against each other while they watched the older twin who had not done anything. Then, realization had suddenly hit Yoh and he couldn't help to ask him even though he already knew the answer.

'Hao, have you ever celebrated your birthday in your years of living?' Yoh asked. Hao eyed him with a complicated expression that he couldn't read.

'No.' Hao answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Silence, gasps and dropped jaws were the reaction he had received from all the guests that was present. Even Yohmei himself was surprised by the answer.

'What?' Hao asked annoyed.

They exchanged glances and began to talk with each other on the newly discovered information.

'So this is the first time you're celebrating your birthday then…' Yoh said as his smiled widened.

 **['I'm glad I celebrated your first birthday with you Onii-chan…']** Yoh thought to his brother.

'I'm happy that I'm invited to your first birthday celebration.' Liam suddenly interrupted and shook his hand.

Yoh abruptly pulled him closer to the cake.

'It's said that if we wish during our birthday or when we saw shooting stars, the wish will come true. So all you need to do is close your eyes and make a wish before blowing the candle.' Yoh said.

'Right….I'm not five years old remember?' Hao said.

'Come on Onii-chan make a wish! The candles are about to go off even without us blowing it.' Yoh urged.

'Whatever.' Hao simply said but obliged nonetheless. He knew for sure if he didn't do that, Yoh is going to pout at him for hours especially since this was the first time he had actually celebrated his birthday. After the twins had blown the candles, the cakes were distributed to each and every guest in the room. While the others were having their dessert, Yoh, Hao, Lyserg, Tamao, and Opacho ate the food that was kept for them.

Hao had helped Opacho to take some food as he was too small to take anything.

'So, what else do you want Opacho?' Hao looked at Opacho who had been lifted onto his shoulders as she gazed at the varieties of food.

'Umm….Opacho wanted that one.' Opacho pointed at the sausage.

'Okay. Is there anything else?' Hao asked as looked at Opacho.

'That's all. Hao-sama can put Opacho down now.'

Hao went towards an empty table and placed down Opacho's dish before he removed Opacho from his shoulders. He had refused to sit with Yoh saying that it wasn't a part of the punishment and Yoh couldn't do anything against it. Opacho sat and ate the food happily as Hao went to take something for his own. Yoh and friends who had been watching him from another table discussed among themselves. It wasn't just them, most of the guest were doing the same thing. Hao realized it but did nothing.

'Yoh, what did you do to him? He became so different the last time we met him. ' Chocolove whispered. There was suspicion in his eyes.

'Not to mention he had revived my parents from death.' Lyserg added as he turned to his parents who were sitting with the other Asakura member's.

'Uhh…I don't really know…he was like that as well when I met him in the city.' Yoh scratched the back of his head. Everyone gave him an incredulous stare.

'YOU'VE MET HIM IN THE CITY?' Horohoro exclaimed as he stood up. Ren and Lyserg quickly pulled him back down to his seat and Ren smacked him on the head.

'Quiet down you idiot. He can hear you.' Ren hissed.

The continued discussing as Hao tried to refrain himself from laughing out loud in front of the guests. He couldn't afford to laugh there since it would be too out of character for him and some might thought that he was insane. Even though they were whispering, he could hear them very clearly but he wasn't going to tell anyone about it.

'Can we sit with you?' a voice suddenly asked.

Hao looked up and saw his former companions, the Hanagumi. Apparently, they were serving the guest all the time and so they had not eaten anything just now. He could see the fear and apprehension that was hidden in their eyes probably due to that incident where he had threatened to eat their souls. It didn't matter to him though.

'Sure, it's not like anyone's going to sit with me anyway.' He replied matter-of-factly.

The girls looked shocked for a moment. He wasn't surprised because he knew why. No mocking tone, no malicious eyes, no intimidating air, and not even an evil smirk from him! It was as if he was another person.

If only they knew.....

They exchanged glances and shrugged before taking a seat with his former master. They continue to eat in silence until Macchi who had been contemplating whether she should ask a question broke the silence as she gave in to her curiousity.

'Hao-sama, how did you actually survive that attack inflicted by your brother?' Macchi bluntly asked.

Hao stopped eating and stared at the girl for a moment. Kanna and Mari's face turned pale as the two of them fought the urge to shout 'ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?' in Macchi's ears. Hao read their minds and an amused smile creased his lips. They didn't really expect him to answer the question though.

'You'll have to find out the answer on your own.' He said as he stood. The girls stared at him as he lifted his plate. Opacho followed.

'I'm done eating. Let's go Opacho.'

'Yes, Hao-sama.'

They silently walked away as the girls stared disbelievingly at his former master as he placed his plate on the kitchen sink. They mentally sighed with relief and Hao smiled silently as he read their mind.

'Onii-chan…' Yoh suddenly called out from behind.

Hao turned to him and the next thing he knew his face was filled with whipped cream. The guests that were present stared incredulously at the younger boy. Yoh who was oblivious to his surroundings laughed hysterically. Hao took a towel and wiped his face, glad that it didn't get into his eyes.

SPLAT!

Hao threw the towel at Yoh and it hit him in the face and his face became filled with cream.

'That wasn't funn-' Hao's sentence was abruptly cut off when Lyserg threw a glob of cream at him.

Then Horohoro threw another glob at Lyserg and Ren at Horohoro while Yoh threw the cream-filled towel at Ren. Opacho brought Hao another towel and he wiped his face only to get another glob of cream at his face. What's surprising is that the one who threw it was Macchi. The guest had joined in as well and the whole party had turned into a huge cream fight

* * *

'That was fun wasn't it Onii-chan?' Yoh asked his brother as he dressed up in a blue yukata with flowers at the bottom part of the shirt. The response he got was a smack in his head.

'Idiot. It's nothing but a waste of time.' He said as he wiped Opacho's face. He was wearing a red yukata with stars at the bottom part of the shirt.

After the intense cream fight was over, the guest was forced to clean the place by none other than Anna. Yoh and Hao was excluded as it was their birthday and so, here they are. Changing their clothes after taking a bath and before going to sleep…As they walked pass the corridor they met most of the guests and some of them still have cream on their faces. To Hao's surprise, they had showed little to no hostility towards him. Even the Hanagumi who passed by had no longer showed any hostility and hatred towards him and they spoke to him in a manner different from the previous one

'Ah!' Yoh suddenly said to no one in particular.

'What's wrong?'

'I forgot to give you something. It's in my room.' He said and pulled him to walk faster.

'I thought we were sleeping in the same room?' Hao told his younger brother. Yoh halted and Hao unintentionally bumped into him. He scratched his head for the umpteenth time.

'Ahahaha…I had totally forgotten about that.' He grinned. Hao sighed exasperatedly.

'Are you going to stand here forever?' Hao asked.

'Oh, right.' Yoh continued pulling him until he had arrived at his destination. He slid open the door and quickly went inside followed by Hao.

'Onii-chan, can you turn around please?' Yoh said in a pleading tone.

' _Sigh_ …make it quick.' Hao said and turned to his back. There were shuffling noises and after a while he heard Yoh's footsteps indicating that he was approaching him.

'Onii-chan…you can turn now.'

'You're not holding any cream are you?' Hao said and Yoh chuckled.

'Don't worry, I won't do that again. If I did that, Anna will definitely kill me.' He said.

Hao turned and saw him holding a beautifully wrapped box.

'It's a present to you from me. Happy birthday Onii-san. ' He said as he handed him the box.

Hao stared at him totally dumbfounded by the sudden surprise. He carefully held the box in his hands as if it was the most precious thing in the world. Yoh wasn't surprised. It was after all his first birthday present…

'Thank you.'

* * *

 

He woke up and stared at the clock. It was only 2.35 p.m. He glanced at his brother and saw him soundly asleep in his futon. He rose and went out of his room. The whole residence was silent as everyone was asleep. After going to the toilet, he went back to his room. He walked along the corridor and froze when he saw a figure in the garden through the opening door.

He walked and turned to the direction where the figure was seen.

Finally, he arrived at the door connected to the garden at the west side of the house.

'Eh? I thought I saw him here…' he scratched the back of his head.

* * *

**Yuu.....** **Wake up....**

The voice echoed around him.

**Wake up....**

It repeated. There was the sound of sighing.

**He is in trouble…**

Hao immediately shot up from his bed. He didn't know what else could frighten him more than the unfamiliar tone used or the fact the voice spoke in a language that he could understand way too clearly.

* * *

'It must be my imagination…' he said and walked away when he saw the bushes behind the trees moving. He turned to the direction of the bush. Now that he thought about it, it was really strange that the door was opened even in the middle of the night. Normally, Keiko would have closed it before she went to sleep. Could she have forgotten? He walked towards the bushes but as soon as he entered the garden, it made an appearance.

A weird looking demon appeared and immediately charged at Yoh. Yoh was so stunned at the moment that the incident didn't have the time to register in his mind. He heard someone saying something but could not hear it clearly. Before the demon could charge at him, someone pulled him out of the way and the next thing he knew a huge sword was penetrated into the demon's shoulder. Yoh finally came to his senses as Hao smacked him in the head. Hao sighed.

'Use the spirit of sword.' Hao told him.

'But Onii-chan, how am I supposed to use Harusame when you're using it?'

'That was mine. Yours is right here.' he threw Harusame and Futsu no Mitama at his direction. He stared at it dumbfounded.

'Yoh, we don't have time for this. Focus on the battle.' Hao said and began to charge at the demon.

'Amidamaru in Harusame in Futsu no Mitama no Tsurugi! Oversoul Spirit of Sword!' (so long….)

Meanwhile, Hao evaded one of the demons attack and had darted towards Yoh.

'Yoh, did you see that talisman that was placed in the middle of that weird pattern?' Hao asked the younger boy. Yoh nodded.

'We need to destroy the talisman if we want to get rid of that demon. I'll distract it and when the right time comes, destroy it with the oversoul.'

'Okay, be careful Onii-chan.'

'That's my line.' He chided and went to hack at the demon.

Yoh concentrated his furyoku on his oversoul as he waited for his brother to give him the opportunity to strike at the demon. Finally, he saw it and he immediately thrust into the demon's body. The demon cried out. Rooms began to light up and the sound of sliding doors opening could be heard.

'Chou Senji Ryakketsu Mikazuki no Harae!' Hao gave him the final blow and all that's left of the demon was the bones. Then, they dissolved their oversoul.

'Yoh!' Mikihisa cried.

Both of them turned and saw many people staring at them. Apparently, everyone was awake already thanks to the demon's loud cries. Keiko ran towards Yoh and hugged him causing him to drop his Harusame and Futsu no Mitama. Yoh stared at his brother who simply watched the scene in silence.

'Hao-sama!' Opacho hopped towards his master. Hao smiled at his faithful companion.

Suddenly, he felt as if his head was a little bit wet. He touched his forehead and saw blood. Then, he heard someone calling out for his name before unconsciousness had decided to claim him.

* * *

**Author's Note's:**

**I was just writing this in case you guys were curious as to why I decided to name Marco's wife Victoria and Maria so if you weren't interested, it's okay...you can straight away proceed to the next chapter.**

**For those who want to know, I have been thinking for a long time on what name should be given to Marco's wife until I suddenly thought of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom for god-knows-what reason. I thought that name sounded quite suitable and so I randomly decided to name her Victoria. As for Maria, I decided to choose Marco's daughter's name as Maria because I decided to follow both Marco and Victoria's name. Another reason is that I'm totally out of ideas so I decided to create their names by following the name of their parent's just like how Hana and Tao men are named.**

**My reason must have sounded random and crappy…*shrugged***


	6. Can someone change so much?

The next day…

'Aniki! Help me!' Yoh cried as stream of tears ran down his cheek.

'As if I can!' Hao retorted.

'Yoh-dono…' Amidamaru was crying as well.

'Onii-chan, faster!' Pilica yelled desperately.

'Yoh, faster!' Anna yelled.

'I'm starving!' Yoh announced loudly.

'Me too!' Horohoro said.

'WHAT?!' Pilica and the Itako fumed. The two boys cringed in fear.

'They said they were TRYING!' Hao said to defend for his younger brother. The two girl's anger went down.

Yoh and his friends were at the garden doing their usual training. However, Anna had forced Hao to practice as well for god-knows-what reason. They have been running for a few hours before doing their push-ups. Lyserg and Chocolove had decided to train as well and they were now fighting against Lyserg's father.

The patch tribe merely watched them train and they were surprised that Anna actually managed to coerce Hao to go and train out of his own will. As soon as Hao had regained his consciousness, Anna had forcefully dragged him to the garden with her beads. Despite Hao's pretty bad condition, she was having a very difficult time pulling the pyro shaman.

Finally, she sought for help and the Patch official all decided to lend a hand (because they don't want Anna to slap them) and had pulled him with a lot of difficulties although they managed to pull him out of the garden in the end. However, as soon as they released their hands from the beads, Hao immediately ran away and Anna had to chase him all around the house again.

Finally, she managed to stop him from running by using Opacho as the bait. The plan had worked and Hao was now doing push-ups together with Yoh. He had finished the Itako's training with ease and hadn't even break a sweat. Not to mention he had been training for hours already.

'Hao, I want you to run 50 laps around this house in one hour NOW!' Anna suddenly said and Hao rolled his eyes but obliged nonetheless.

As he pass by Anna, he noticed that she was eyeing him with suspicion. He smirked though mentally he felt a tad apprehensive.

Could she have found out?

'Onii-chan! Run 100 laps around this house in one hour NOW!' Pilica yelled at his brother.

'PILICA ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! I'M NOT HAO!'

'GO NOW!' Pilica yelled more loudly this time.

Yoh and Ren stared at him with an apologetic look while Lyserg and Chocolove shook their head. Horohoro stood up and ran past the direction that Hao had just gone. Stream of tears ran down his cheeks.

'Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!' Ryu exclaimed in frustration.

He had been training for hours as well but his was more difficult as he had not trained at all yesterday. Faust was also losing his sanity as his training was doubled as well. He was laughing maniacally as he continued training.

Those who were watching them had felt sympathy but they had not said it aloud as they couldn't win against Anna's legendary left hand slap. That morning, one of the member's of X-Law's had made a mistake by saying that Anna's training was torture and up till now, he had not regained his consciousness…

' _Sigh_ …you can take a break from here.' Anna suddenly said after watching them train in frustration for so long.

Yoh and Ryu collapsed in exhaustion. Faust was back to normal and he fell silent.

'I'll continue training you three after Hao returned from his run.' Anna said.

Yoh swallowed his nervousness. He had a bad feeling about this…

'A-A-Anna, isn't it a little too far to make him train this much. I mean…he hadn't rested since he started training…' Yoh said nervously.

'He'll be fine. He's not like you.' Anna said bluntly and Yoh gave him a wounded look.

'An opponent like him is definitely worth to be trained with Yoh.' Ren said as he smirked in anticipation. Anna wore a smug expression on her face.

'You won't be able to train with him though Ren, he'll be training with Yoh for the whole afternoon.' the Itako said.

'WHAT?!' Ren yelled.

Just then, Hao had arrived and ran pass them as if they hadn't existed. Yoh's eyes widened. He had finished running 1 lap in not more than 5 minutes?! What the heck?!

* * *

'I'm done.' Hao said.

'You're late by 15 seconds.' Anna said.

'Nope, in fact, I finished this in 59 minutes 15 seconds.' Hao shot back almost automatically. He grimaced as if regretting what he'd said immediately.

'WHAT?!' the others who were present exclaimed in unison.

'How would you know that?' the itako asked looking curious and suspicious at once. The number 59:15 blared from the screen of her stopwatch.

'You have a stopwatch you can refer...' Hao pointed at the device on her hand.

'Yes, I did. But you don't.' Hao looked a little alarmed but regained composure quickly.

'Well, if you must know...' he pulled a watch out of his pockets. 'I checked the time when I left.'

Lies. Anna never saw him pull out anything when he started the run.

Seeing Anna looking completely unconvinced, Hao mentally cursed. Why must she be so perceptive now of all times?!

Anna decided to brush it off. 'Hmph. Fine. Now fight with Yoh.' She ordered. She had more important things to determine after all.

'Huh?' Hao looked a bit lost.

'Fight with Yoh. You can use your katana very well right?' Anna said and threw his katana at him.

'Fine.' He said as he caught his katana, eyes furrowed.

* * *

'Are you alright Yoh?' Hao asked. Yoh was trembling terribly.

'I-I-I'm fine.' Yoh stuttered. Hao sighed when he read his mind.

'I won't eat your soul like last time Yoh…'

'NO! DON'T EAT ME!' Yoh cried out as he dropped Harusame placed both of his hands around his abdomen.

' _Sigh_ …this is going to be a long day…'

_Clash!_

Another Yoh appeared and attacked Hao from behind. Yoh's eyes widened as Hao dodged his attack without an oversoul. The other Yoh turned into Imari and the shadow of Yoh turned into Shigaraki. (They were Mikihisa's guardian ghost.)

'You know, playing tricks isn't nice Yoh.' Hao said as Yoh evaded one of his attack.

Hao ran towards Yoh and disappeared into thin air. Yoh looked at every direction for his brother. Suddenly, Hao reappeared behind him. He couldn't dodge his attack in time so he closed his eyes and braced himself for the attack. He reopened his eyes when he hadn't felt any pain. Ren had blocked his brother's attack.

'Ren!'

'You think I'm gonna let you fight him alone?' he said.

'Nipopo Punch!' Horohoro exclaimed and attacked Hao with his oversoul.

'Chuuka Zanmai!' Ren attacked as well.

Both of the attack that was inflicted had produced a lot of smoke. Nonetheless, as soon as the smoke had disappeared, Hao appeared unharmed. Chocolove and Lyserg went towards the place where the battle is taking place.

'Mind if we join you?' Lyserg asked.

'Nope.' Yoh replied.

'Not at all.' Hao added.

All of them teamed up and went against Hao. Although he had not oversouled, he had fought all of them without a lot of difficulties and had managed to dissolve their oversoul a few times. Soon, some of the patch official and members of X-Laws had joined in as well. However, all of them had teamed up with Yoh to defeat Hao.

* * *

It has been 4 hours since the battle started yet it had not come to an end. Most of them who participated in the fight have passed out leaving only Hao, all five elemental warriors, Marco, and Silva. Yoh and the others gasped for air as they stared at Yoh's twin brother. He was also panting heavily as well after the long fight. The fight was intense but up till now they couldn't defeat him. It was surprising that he was able to defeat them without using an oversoul. Plus, he was getting more and more fired up as he fought through the battles. Yoh was glad that this was a mere training.

'Already done for?!' Hao said as tightened his grip on his katana.

'H-h-how can you still stand unharmed after so long?!' Yoh said as he gasped for air.

'Not to mention you have not used oversoul at all.' Lyserg added as he panted.

'You're like a fighting machine!' Horohoro yelled frustrated while gasping for air.

'That is correct.' he shrugged.

His words had surprised all of them. He didn't bother and he charged forward. Yoh and the others charged as well. Both attacks collided and they stood with their backs facing each other. After a while, Marco collapsed with a thud sound and fainted. Silva, Ren, and Horohoro ran out of furyoku and therefore, they were counted as lost. Now only Chocolove, Lyserg, and Yoh were left to defeat Hao.

'It's no use. He's too powerful.' Lyserg finally said.

'One more attack inflicted by him and we're all done for.' Chocolove said.

'I have an idea, though I'm not sure if it's going to work.'

'We don't have a choice Yoh. If we don't try, we'll still lose.' Lyserg said.

'Alright, here's the plan…'

They whispered among each other while Hao stood there waiting for them to attack.

'Are you going to stand there forever?!' Hao told them.

They stopped whispering and turned to Hao. They stood there as Yoh dissolved his oversoul.

'You think this will work Lyserg?' Chocolove asked.

'Whether it is going to work or not, we'll still lose so it's no harm trying.' Lyserg told his friend.

'Ready guys?' Yoh asked. The two boys nodded.

'Amidamaru! Spirit ball mode!' Yoh exclaimed.

His spirit immediately obeyed and switched into spirit ball mode.

'Hyoui Gattai!'

Yoh then charged forward and attacked his brother. Their swords clashed as Lyserg and Chocolove stood there with their oversoul prepared for god-knows-what reason. Hao try to read his younger brother's mind to find out what plan he was up to. It didn't take him long to find out what they were trying to do though…

Suddenly, Lyserg's pendulum appeared from behind and attacked Hao. Hao dodged the attack but Yoh immediately attacked him causing his grip on the katana to loosen. Then, Chocolove appeared and swing his claws at him. This time, his released his grip on the katana. He fell on the floor and ran to grab his katana but Yoh had managed to beat him to it. As soon as Yoh caught a hold of his brother's sword, the three immediately turned to Hao and they attacked him in unison. The attack collided and the whole field became covered in smoke. Then, the smoke began to disappear and the scene is slowly increasing in clarity.

Finally, everything had become clear and Hao stood there still unharmed. However, he was protected by a barrier that was made up of…water?! Yoh, Lyserg, and Chocolove was unharmed as well and but their furyoku was already used up and so, Hao had won the battle.

'In the end, we lost.' Yoh said and heaved a sigh.

'and I thought we finally made it.' Chocolove said.

'You didn't lose. I did.' Hao said.

The three turned to him. They gave him a questioning look.

'My furyoku was already out when I used that barrier to defend myself.'

There were silence and dropped jaws.

'WHAT?!' all of the shaman and non-shaman that had been there exclaimed in unison.

* * *

'I can't believe it, you actually ran out of furyoku just by building up a barrier?!' Yoh asked his brother.

'Yes.' Hao replied nonchalantly.

'But I thought your furyoku was--'

'1,250,000. I know.' Hao finished.

After the fight had taken place, Yoh and his friends had gathered together in one of the room together with Hao. The others went back to their respective rooms to rest before going for lunch.

'Then, how come--'

'My furyoku hasn't recovered fully since the tournament ended and I had already used up a big batch of it yesterday.'

'Oh…' Yoh lowered his head.

'Don't need to feel guilty about yesterday's incident Yoh.'

'Ya. It's not like anyone knows that's gonna happen.' Horohoro told his friend.

'I know. Still…the tournament….' Hao suddenly patted his head.

'I'm still alive Yoh…why still bother things like that when I'm still here?' Hao said softly.

Yoh blinked and tried to conceal his tears that threatened to flow down his cheeks. He felt really guilty when he thought of that incident. The others stared at him with concern written all over their faces. Hao read his mind and finally understood how difficult it had been for Yoh to forcefully kill him. He sighed for a moment before releasing his grip on the younger boy's hand.

'Can all of you leave this room for a moment and come back later?' Hao asked. His tone was different from the one he usually used in which they instantly understood and left the room without another word.

As soon as they had walked away, Hao went to lock the door. He did not want any other people to see this...It will definitely ruin his reputation.

He went towards his depressed younger brother. Yoh was still trying his best to prevent himself from crying even though it was getting more and more difficult with each passing second. He could felt the tears slowly forming in the corner of his eyes. Suddenly, Hao unexpectedly pulled him into a hug.

‘Don’t need to feel so guilty about it Yoh…you didn’t do it on purpose. I don’t blame you. Now that I’m alive and I don’t blame you, that’s all that had mattered. No one’s here so you don’t need to keep it all in.’ Hao said softly.

Yoh who was being overcame by the sudden affection finally burst into tears. He cried silently while being held in his brother’s embrace.

* * *

‘You think he will be fine?’ Horohoro asked.

‘Probably will. I can’t be totally sure about it though…’ Lyserg answered. All of them went silent.

‘If Anna actually finds out about that, I can’t imagine what catastrophe will befall on Hao…’

As they walked pass the corridor and was about to turn to the corner…

‘Where’s Yoh?!’ a voice shouted and they froze.

Stompings were heard from behind as the voice muttered curses. The boys scrambled to hide themselves.

They evaded Anna and manage to buy time for about half an hour before they were finally found in one of the rooms.

* * *

Anna is seen from behind the door stomping along the passageway with Tamao behind her. She halted in front of the door and their hearts skipped a beat.

‘Is this the place?’ Anna’s asked coldly. Her cold voice sends chill down their spine.

‘Y-Y-Yes…Anna-sama.’ Tamao stuttered.

‘You’ve better got it right this time.’ She said as she slid open the door.

‘Finally!’ she said and went towards her first victim, Horohoro. He held him up by the ear.

‘Owowowowowowowowowow--’

‘Where’s Yoh?!’ she said in her usual cold manner.

‘I don’t know!’ Horohoro replied.

SMACK!

The others stared in horror as Horohoro lay on the floor unconscious. Anna proceeded to her next target, Chocolove. Chocolove had given her the similar answer.

SMACK!

As she was approaching her next prey Tamao called out to her.

‘A-A-Anna-sama…’ Tamao called out.

‘WHAT?!’ Anna said coldly.

‘I-I think I’ve found them…’ she said and Anna walked towards her.

‘Where are they?!’

‘In the kitchen…’

Silence follows as her words were left hanging in the air…

‘They were in the kitchen?’ Lyserg repeated. Tamao nodded in confirmation. They glanced at each other in confusion.

‘Well, what are you waiting for?! Go and help them!’

Those who were still conscious immediately rushed out of the room while those that were unconscious were left behind.

* * *

Their jaws dropped as they watched the scene in astonishment. Hao….he was cooking?! They shook their head. A lot of awkward incident have been happening recently. Yoh meanwhile was chopping the onions. They turned when they saw them and Yoh greeted them with a simple ‘Yo!’ though his eyes were squinting slightly. The noticed that his eyes were red but they weren’t surprised since Yoh was chopping the onions. They continued to stare at the older twin in amazement.

‘Ummm….helloooo?’ Yoh said and they snapped back to reality.

‘Sorry.’ They said in unison.

‘Didn’t you always see me cook?’ Yoh said and turned to his brother before turning back to them. They were about to protest when Hao suddenly cut in.

‘Well, they did but they have never seen ME cook so they find it unbelievable that’s all…’ Hao said and Yoh chuckled lightly.

‘Ahhh…now that you mentioned it…’

Ren, Lyserg, and Manta watched the scene in confusion. Since when did the two get along so well??? Lyserg smirked at the twins.

‘So…not feeling guilty anymore?’ the question took both of them by surprise and they fell silent.

Hao immediately went back to his work and so do Yoh. Ren smirked as well and Manta flashed a knowing smile.

‘I see…’ Ren said.

‘Anyway, why is it that it wasn’t Ryu who did the cooking?’ Manta asked.

‘Well…mom had went out to buy groceries and Ryu went to help her--’

‘But Anna is hungry so Otouto wanted to make something for her quickly before she decided to double his training.’

‘So I asked Aniki for help.’

‘and what are you--’ Lyserg’s sentence was abruptly cut off by the twins.

‘Rice balls and cream stew.’ Yoh and Hao said in unison.

‘Ummm…Yoh, if you’re going to make cream stew and rice balls, why are you chopping onions?’ Manta suddenly asked.

Hao’s eyes widened slightly and Yoh flinched. They looked as if they had just realized mistake that they had done.

Yoh’s face was gradually turning red. ‘Erm...’

‘Actually, I always add onions into stew.’ Hao looked confused. ‘You mean....Japanese don’t add onions in stew?’

Ren gave him a weird look. ‘How are we supposed to know? You’re the Japanese here.’

Everyone looked confused as well.

Yoh’s eyed his brother in question. Is it him or Hao had looked a bit....alarmed? Lyserg and Ren noticed it too and they both scrutinized Hao carefully.

‘Well, it..it must have slipped my mind then.’ He rubbed his neck awkwardly. ‘I’ve never stayed in Japan for long periods of time. Usually, I travel around the globe.’ He admitted averting his gaze.

 **‘Ahh...that explains it.’** They all thought to themselves.

‘Must be fun travelling around the place!’ Yoh chirped.

Hao shrugged not really saying anything. ‘I…uhhh…I think I’m done here. I’ll be going for a rest.’ Hao said and immediately left.

As soon as he left, Ren and Lyserg’s brow furrowed slightly. For a very short moment, they noticed that Hao had looked a bit stricken at Yoh's comment.

Lyserg turned to Yoh who dumped the onions into the boiling pot of stew whistling to himself. Yoh probably hadn't noticed anything odd. Manta seemed not to notice anything either and Ren look deep in his thoughts. Maybe what he saw was just his imagination.

Ren on the other hand merely brushed it off. It was not his problem anyway. Why should he pry?

‘Yoh! What are you doing?!’ a cold voice said.

All of theirs face turned pale in an instant.

Yoh smiled meekly. 'H-Hi Anna...Ummm...Well...I thought that you must be hungry by now so I decided to make you some rice balls and stew.’ He said nervously as he scratched the back of his head. Anna raised an eyebrow.

‘Hmph. Fine, I'll let you off from training this time. As soon as you are done with it bring it to the room.’ Yoh nodded in understanding.

After Anna had left Manta asked Yoh a question.

‘Yoh, which room was she referring to?’

Yoh stared at his friend for a moment. He scratched the back of his head.

‘I don’t know…’ he grinned sheepishly. Silence engulfed the four boys….

‘YOU WHAT?!’ they nearly shrieked.

* * *

Keiko pushed the trolley as her gaze travelled around the varieties of vegetables. Suddenly Ryu appeared from her behind with a packet of potatoes.

‘I got the potatoes.’

‘Thank you Ryu-san. Now that we’re done, it’s time to go then.’ She flashed him a smile and Ryu’s hair and eyes turned to the shape of heart.

When she was about to push her trolley, her trolley collided with the trolley of another person. The person fell on the floor. Keiko ran towards the person and held out her hand.

‘Are you all right?’

‘I’m fine. Thank you.’ She raised her head and was shocked to see Keiko.

‘Is there anything wrong?’ Keiko stared at her with a questioning look.

‘No. It’s just that…you reminded me of someone I’ve met a while ago.’ She said.

Keiko turned to Ryu but Ryu simply shrugged. While Keiko held her up, a little girl at around the age of four or five ran towards her.

‘Mother, are you alright?!’ she asked nervously.

‘I’m fine Sara.’

The girl who went by the name of Sara was about to thank Keiko but she gasped when she saw her. She turned to her mother.

’MOM! SHE LOOKS AWFULLY LIKE _HIM!_ ′ she said blatantly as she pointed to Keiko.

‘Sara, be polite to others!’

‘Sorry mom…’

‘You should apologize to her not me Sara…’

Sara turned and bowed at Keiko.

‘Sorry about that…’

‘It’s fine. You don’t need to apologize.’ Keiko said as she smiled.

The two stared at Keiko in silent.

‘I’ll be going then…’ Keiko said and snapped them back to reality.

‘Wait!’ Sara called out to the Asakura. Keiko turned to her.

‘What’s your name miss?’ she asked. Keiko smiled.

‘Keiko…Keiko Asakura.’

* * *

‘Mom, don’t you think that they both looked really alike?’ Sara asked.

‘Yes, they did. Still, you shouldn’t have said it aloud Sara…’

‘Well, I couldn’t help it. We haven’t met for months already!' She whined and sighed wistfully. 'I missed Yuu-nii.’

‘That’s because you’re too fond of him.’

‘Of course! Yuu-nii's the best!’

‘Yes yes....and we’re here to look for him so good for you.’

She beamed. ‘I can't wait to see him!’

* * *

‘I’m home.’ Keiko said as she opened the door with Ryu behind him.

‘Welcome back.’ Hao said monotonously.

Ryu was shocked to see the pyro shaman and he wanted to oversoul but he couldn’t do it at the moment because his hands were full.

Keiko was surprised that it wasn’t Yoh who greeted her. Normally, he was the first person to greet her when she returned. It was weird that Hao was the one who had greeted her instead as he never did things like that.

Could it be that he wanted to be accepted into the family? Hao read her mind and his expression became annoyed.

‘Don’t take it the wrong way Keiko. I was only doing it because Yoh was busy so he asked me to do it in his place. Otherwise, I won’t be waiting for you.’ Hao said matter-of-factly and went to take one of the bags of groceries that Keiko was holding before walking away. Ryu stared at him totally awestruck. Just then, Yoh appeared and ran towards them.

‘Thanks for your help Aniki.’

‘You can take it from here.’ Hao shoved the bag of groceries into his hands and walked away when Yoh suddenly grabbed his arm and shoved it back to him.

‘What the--’

‘You started the work and so you’re going to have to finish the work you’ve started. I’ll be taking the other one then.’ Yoh said as he went towards Keiko and took the other bag of groceries that she was holding. Hao glared murderously at his younger brother. He heaved a sigh and walked away. Ryu gave his boss an incredulous stare.

‘B-Boss…you’re amazing.’ He whispered to Yoh who grinned sheepishly.

‘By the way, I’ve placed your present in your room Yoh.’ Hao said and continued walking. Yoh blinked. His present?!

′ _My_  present?!′

Hao sighed exasperatedly.

’Yes,  _your_ present.′

’In  _my_  room?!′

’Yes, in  _your_  room.′

’From  _you_?!′

’Yes, from  _me_.′

‘Really?!’

‘Yes.’

He ran forward and shoved the other bag on Hao’s hands.

‘YOH!’

‘Justthisonce...’ he said rushingly and quickly ran towards his room.

Keiko smiled as she watched the scene in amusement. Hao heaved another exasperated sigh before walking away. Keiko dismissed Ryu before she went towards the long haired shaman and took one of the bags of groceries from his hands.

‘Sorry about that. Yoh can be a little bit irresponsible at times…’

‘It’s fine. You don’t need to apologize.’

They remained silent as they walked towards the kitchen. After a moment, they arrived at their desired destination. Lyserg, Ren, Manta, Ryu, and the now-awakened Chocolove and Horohoro immediately focused their gaze on the two Asakura’s. Hao gave them a glare. They got the point and immediately came to help Keiko. Hao was about to walk away from the kitchen when someone called out to him.

* * *

‘Onii-chan!’

Yoh ran towards his brother and jumped onto him from behind. To his surprise, Hao did not fell down on the floor. Instead, he held the younger boy over his shoulders. Yoh felt very comfortable being held up on his shoulders though. Hao looked over his shoulders.

‘Otouto, you should really stop ambushing people like that. It’s not very nice.’

‘Awww come on, it’s not like I can ambush you…’ Yoh whined. Then he hugged his brother while he was being held.

 **[‘Thanks for the present by the way…’]**  Yoh thought to his brother.

Hao sighed and put him down. He turned and saw everyone in the kitchen staring at the two boys. Yoh waved at them.

‘Yo.’ He gave them his trademark grin. Hao was about to walk away again when Yoh grabbed his arm and pulled him into the kitchen. Hao reluctantly went back into the kitchen.

‘So, is there anything we can help?’ Yoh emphasized on the word ‘we’. Hao crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot impatiently wanting to leave this place as soon as possible.

‘Umm…Maybe you should just go and wait till lunch is ready…’ Keiko said hesitantly.

‘My pleasure.’ Hao said and was about to walk away when Yoh grabbed his arm and pulled him back for the third time that day.

‘We’ll be sitting here then.’ Yoh said and pulled his brother to sit down at a table nearby. Keiko sighed in defeat. Yoh was always like that.

‘There are a few dishes that are needed to be washed. Can you do it for me Yoh?’

Yoh smiled satisfied and stood up. He nudged his brother by the elbow. Hao glared at his twin and heaved a sigh.

‘Is there anything I can help?’ he said as he stood. Everyone except Yoh gave him an incredulous stare.

‘Ummm…’ Keiko looked around to see which task can be given to the pyro shaman.

‘You can ask Aniki to cook if you want.’ Yoh suddenly interrupted.

Keiko stared at Yoh with a questioning look while the others that were present stared at him disbelievingly. Hao gave him a glare but it didn’t seem to affect him in any way.

‘Yoh, I can’t cook and I can assure you if I were to cook, they’ll all spit the food out of their mouth just after taking the first bite…’ Hao protested.

‘Umm…You see… Jeanne, Pilica and Tamao tried the stew you made for Anna and they commented that--’ Yoh’s sentence was abruptly cut off by his brother.

‘They WHAT?!’ he all but bellowed.

‘Sorry, when I found Anna she was with them and they asked for some as well so…’ Yoh grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. Hao fumed and gave his brother a death glare.

‘You made the stew all by yourself?’ Keiko asked the pyro shaman.

‘Yup, Onii-chan made them all by himself.’ Yoh said on his brother’s behalf. Keiko thought for a moment.

‘What did they comment on the stew?’ Keiko asked Yoh. Everyone turned to Yoh.

‘They said it was delicious. They thought it was Ryu who made it though…’ Yoh said cheerfully. Everyone focused their attention on the long haired shaman and gave him an incredulous stare.

‘Is there any stew left?’ Keiko asked.

‘There’s a little bit more. Why?’

‘Well, I wanted to taste some on my own.’ Keiko said and Yoh grinned.

‘It’s right there.’ Yoh pointed out at a pot that was beside Lyserg. Keiko went and scooped up a spoonful of the remaining stew in the pot and fed herself with it. Horohoro scooped up a spoonful of the stew and fed himself with it as well. Yoh and the others that were present in the room did the same except for Hao. They exchanged glances with each other before staring at Hao.

‘Hao, this stew is very good!’ Keiko praised.

‘Your stew is even more delicious then the stew Pilica made at home.’ Horohoro mumbled and proceeded to gulp down a few more spoonfuls.

‘It’s even better than the stew I made.’ Ryu commented.

‘...Though I have always hated cream stew, this stuff is...admittedly not too bad.’ Ren admitted begrudgingly. He had always preferred Chinese soup that has a lighter taste so the one time he had tried cream stew, he’d dislike it immediately. It was too creamy and heavy in terms of taste.

He hadn’t wanted to taste it to be honest, but the chance to humiliate Hao had been too good to pass up. Too bad things didn’t work out as he had expected.

 **‘Geez...who would have thought Hao would end up being such a good cook?’** Ren mentally thought to himself as he took another scoop.

‘This tasted really familiar...’ Chocolove mumbled seemingly deep in thought. Hao felt dread pooling in his guts.

‘Really? How so?’ Yoh asked.

‘Hmm....I felt like I tasted this somewhere before...’ Suddenly, he perked up and his face cleared instantly. He turned to Hao, ‘I remember now! This tasted exactly like-’ His smile disappeared in a flash and he trailed off mid sentence.

‘Like what?’ Yoh asked Chocolove. However, he was busy looking at Hao as if seeing him for the very first time.

Hao returned his gaze steadily though his legs felt a bit weak. He is going to find out.

‘Erm...Chocolove?’ Yoh called out.

‘Oh. My. God.’ Chocolove exclaimed as he realized what is really happening or rather, who is really in front of him. His face is a mix between horror and incredulity.

Everyone else seemed to stop whatever they were doing and shift their attention towards Chocolove and Hao.

‘What?’ Hao asked. Yoh stared at Hao in surprise, slightly taken aback by the defensiveness in his brother’s tone.

* * *

He knows. He must have. There is no way he couldn’t see it.

‘Are we....missing something?’ Ren asked carefully as he stared between the two.

Chocolove’s mouth opened and closed a few times as he struggled to form words. ‘You...You’re not...’ Chocolove faltered.

‘Not what?’ Yoh questioned, his eyes brimming with curiosity.

He shot him a warning look. Now is not the time to reveal his secret.

Chocolove’s brow furrowed but he didn’t say anything.

It was quiet for a short moment.

‘It’s decided then!’ Keiko suddenly said completely breaking off the tense atmosphere looming over them. She clasped her hands and turned to Hao.

‘Hao, can you help me prepare the lunch for everyone?’ Keiko asked.

′ _Sigh_ …alright.′

Seeing that the pot had been emptied of stew, Ryu moved to put the pot into the sink. That was when he noticed Lyserg who had a faraway look on his face.

‘Lyserg? Everything alright?’ Ryu waved his hand in front of a seemingly unmoving Lyserg. Lyserg snapped out of his thoughts.

‘What?’

‘The stew tasted that good huh?’ Ryu asked grinning.

′Huh? Oh....uhh....yeah...just....yeah.' Lyserg stared at the pot curiously.

Lyserg had ate Japanese stew a few times before. Even if he didn't, anyone with a brain would know that it was a western food that had its recipe changed to adapt to the local Japanese taste.

He glanced at Hao as if he don't know what to make of him.

Hao was clearly of Japanese origin so...why does the cream stew taste exactly like the seafood chowders he had back at home?

* * *

After preparing everything, they went and called everyone for lunch. Everyone had gathered together and lunch proceeded peacefully. That is, until Anna suddenly called out.

‘Ryu, you’re cooking seems to have improved tremendously. Did you go to a culinary academy or something?’

Ren who was drinking unintentionally spat out his milk while Horohoro, Chocolove, Yoh, and Ryu choked on whatever they’re eating. Hao immediately placed down his cup of tea and turned away from the group trying to stop his coughing. Lyserg and Manta’s hand holding a cup of water was frozen in midair. They were about to drink the cup of water until Anna froze their actions. They were glad they hadn’t been drinking their water. They could have ended up like Hao. Keiko meanwhile smiled in amusement.

‘Ummm…. Anna, i-it wasn’t Ryu who did the cooking….’ Yoh suddenly interrupted after he had recovered from his choking. Anna raised an eyebrow.

‘I don’t think so. The only person in my mind that can prepare something like that is only him. No one else had been able to prepare something that is even up to his par, Yoh.’

‘Well, that person is not only up to his par Anna-san, he had already surpassed him.’ Lyserg said and Hao shot him a glare.

‘Yup, he definitely has.’ Yoh added and gave Hao a meaningful look.

‘Ryu, it was you who did the cooking right?’ Anna asked expectantly. Ryu gulped his nervousness.

‘I-I-It wasn’t me Anna Okami. I-I-I only helped to chop the vegetables.’ Ryu stammered.

‘If it wasn’t you then who was it?’ Anna asked.

Hao stood up abruptly as he had recovered from his coughing.

‘I’m full.’ He bowed and was about to leave when both Yoh and Lyserg grabbed him by the arm. Yoh grabbed his left arm while Lyserg grabbed his right.

‘What’s the rush Hao?’ Lyserg said in a teasing tone.

‘It’s not like you to leave so quickly.’ Yoh continued.

‘I…uh…I……I need to go to the toilet!’ Hao said desperately trying to excuse himself. He knew it was a lame excuse but he couldn’t think of anything else right now. He could actually felt himself blushing. Yoh and Lyserg exchanged glances with each other. They understood his tactics and they decided to play along.

‘Ok…I’ll let you leave.’ Lyserg said and let go his hand.

‘Come back soon….’ Yoh purposely said to prevent him from running away.

Hao immediately left the room in a rush. Yoh and Lyserg went back to their seat.

‘Yoh, don’t tell me the one who did the cooking was--’ Yohmei’s sentence was abruptly cut off by his daughter.

‘Hao did it.’ Keiko finished.

The guest in the room dropped their spoons and some of them got choked. A few of them even spat out their drinks.

‘I guess you believed us now…’ Lyserg told the Itako.

‘Remember the stew you ate with Tamao and Pilica and Jeanne?’ Yoh suddenly asked his fiancee. The ice queen seemed to have come to a realization when Yoh asked her that.

‘Hao made the stew.’ Ren finished.

‘He made the stew?’ Jeanne suddenly asked surprised.

‘Well…yeah. I wanted to make something for Anna in case she’s hungry so I asked him for some help…sorry I didn’t tell you about it Anna…’ Yoh said.

‘No, it’s fine Yoh. By the way, I have something to ask of him. I want the him to meet me in my room after lunch.’ she said and continued eating. Somehow, Yoh had a hunch that it had something to do with  _Funbari Onsen_ ….

Yohmei had stopped eating by that time and was eyeing the food with suspicion. Kino stopped eating as well. Most of the guest weren’t affected though and they continued eating and some had asked for more. Yohmei and Kino then stood up. Yoh blinked at his grandparents.

‘Ojii-san, Obaa-san,where are you going?’ Yoh asked.

‘We’re full Yoh.’ The two Asakura said and left the room. Mikihisa followed after them. Yoh turned to his mother who gave him an apologetic look. The lunch continued to proceed with the absence of Hao and the three Asakura’s. Little did they know that another two guest had already left the place…

* * *

He lay on the grass with his eyes closed. It was so silent, so relaxing, and so comfortable to be close to nature. It had been so silent until…

‘Hao, we need to talk.’ that cold voice belonged to none other than his grandfather, Asakura Yohmei. He heaved a sigh.

‘I don’t see any point in talking with you.’ he said as he stood up and dusted off the dirt on his clothing. He turned and saw Yohmei, Kino and Mikihisa standing on the verandah.

‘I thought so you would say that. I’m warning you…don’t get too close with Yoh. I don’t care even if you had revived all those that you killed, stay away from my grandson you demon! I hated you for being alive! I hated you for being here! I hated you for who you are! You shouldn’t have been alive in the first place! You should be--’

‘Let’s just get this straight Yohmei. You hated me more than anything in this whole world that you wanted me to disappear forever. So, what are you going to do Asakura Yohmei? Do you really think you’re capable of defeating me? ’ Hao asked.

‘DAMN YOU DEMON CHILD!’ Yohmei exclaimed.

‘If you hated me so badly then let me tell you this Yohmei! You don’t need worry about Yoh! I won’t get too close with that grandson of yours and I won’t stay here for long! I WILL RETURN WHEN THE TIME HAS COME! I DON’T NEED YOU TO KICK ME OUT WITH YOUR SHIKIGAMI NOR DO I NEED YOU TO REMIND ME TO LEAVE! I WILL DEFINITELY GET LOST ON MY OWN! IF YOU REALLY LOVED AND CARED ABOUT THAT GRANDSON OF YOURS THEN YOU SHOULD STOP ARGUING WITH ME AND LEAVE ME IN PEACE UNTIL I LEAVE! DO YOU REALLY THINK HE WILL BE HAPPY SEEING HIS OLDER BROTHER ARGUING WITH HIS GRANDPARENTS?!’ Hao yelled in frustration. The three Asakura’s were totally taken aback by his sudden outburst. Yohmei regained his composure almost immediately.

‘Very well…Until then, I hope you will keep your words Hao. If you ever do anything that will hurt my grandson, I won’t forgive you.’ Yohmei said and they left altogether.

Hao then regained his composure and heaved a sigh. He turned to the corner of the corridor and caught a glimpse of something moving. He sighed again.

‘You know, it’s not nice to eavesdrop on people’s conversation.’ Hao said to no one in particular. He sighed again when no one had responded.

‘Unless you want me to drag you out, you better come out on your own. I don’t like to drag people especially when I know the person is a girl that is a few ages younger than me Jeanne…’ he continued.

The girl finally revealed herself and walked towards the long haired shaman.

‘You too Diethel…..’ Hao added.

The boy came out as well and went towards the long haired shaman.

‘Sorry.’ Lyserg said.

‘Don’t blame him. It was my idea.’ Jeanne said to defend the boy.

‘Hao…is it true you’re going to leave Yoh?’ Lyserg asked. For a moment, Hao stared at him with an unreadable expression.

‘You’ve already heard what I said in that conversation didn’t you?’

‘Yes, but still…’ Lyserg’s voice trailed off. Hao sighed and put his hand on the dowser’s shoulder.

‘Keep this secret from Yoh will you?’ he asked. For a moment there was silence.

‘No.’ Lyserg protested as he shook Hao’s hand off his shoulder.

‘Lyserg--’ Hao’s sentence was abruptly cut off by the green haired boy.

‘He deserved to know! No matter what, he was still a part of this family! I don’t understand you at all! You’re his brother! Don’t you cared about his feelings?!’

 Hao smiled sadly and shook his head slowly.

‘Lyserg, he mustn’t know. If he were to find out, things would only become more complicated. I really can’t tell you the truth right now. The only thing I can tell you is that one day, you’ll definitely understand. Right now, just leave everything as it is.’

‘But--’

‘I know he is your friend, but just help me this once.’

Lyserg was about to protest when Jeanne suddenly interrupted their conversation.

‘Alright. We’ll help you, but let me remind you, this will be the first and also the last time.’

‘What?!’ Lyserg was shocked.

‘I’ll take note of that.’ Hao said and left. He suddenly halted and turned to them.

‘Thanks by the way.’ He said and went inside.

Lyserg stared at the place Hao had been standing at before.

He’ll admit that he had somehow gotten a little curious about this enigmatic ‘new Hao’.

Ever since he reunited with his parents, he had decided to let go of his grudge. It was more for himself than anything because right now, the most important thing is to spend time with his parents and catch up on all those years of lost time.

Not only that, his parents had already told him that they decided to let bygones be bygones and wished for him to do the same.

The cycle of revenge has to be stopped.

They had said. More than anything though, they did not want their only son to live his life consumed by vengeance.

For his parents sake, he relented.

Don’t get him wrong. What Hao did was still unacceptable. Hao took away his childhood. His parents might be alive now but it still didn’t change the fact he killed them.

Of course, it’s a lot harder to hold on to said anger when Hao was so darn different from that homicidal maniac that he had known all this time.

Lyserg let out a long sigh and shook his head. 

'Let's go Lyserg.'

'Yes, Jeanne-sama.'

* * *

A few hours later after the argument…

‘Onii-chan!’

He was walking peacefully when his younger brother suddenly called out to him. The younger boy ran towards the fire shaman followed by the Silva and Karim which was really weird and suspicious in Hao’s opinion. He had a bad feeling about all this…

‘O-Onii-chan, Anna wants to see you.’ Yoh said as he gasped for air. Hao’s brow furrowed and he felt that if he were to disobey, something bad would befall on him. That didn’t stop him from refusing though…

‘I’m not in the mood of seeing anyone right now. Now if you’ll excuse me Yoh…’

He quickly walked away from the group. He wasn’t in the mood to have another argument. He had enough of it already for today. Right now, he wanted peace and privacy. It wasn’t easy to find peace in this place though. As he was walking, the three suddenly lunged at him and abruptly pinned him to the floor.

‘What are you doing?!’

‘Sorry Aniki… Anna would kill me if I didn’t do as she says…’ stream of tears were rolling down his cheek as he stood there doing nothing.

He struggled to break free but the Silva had his hands held in place as Yoh sat on his legs. Karim whipped out some ropes out of nowhere and Hao stiffened. They were going to tie him up!

‘LET ME GO!’ he yelled.

The four struggled for almost an hour before the three finally succeeded.

‘I’m going to kill you three!’ Hao practically hisses.

Silva carried the long haired boy over his shoulders and began walking. Yoh and Karim followed from behind.

‘Put me down!’ Hao yelled but was being ignored.

‘Onii-chan please, calm down.’ Yoh said as he stared at his brother apologetically.

He stopped struggling and was now glaring at the younger boy. ‘I am being trussed up like a chicken and carried around like a sack of potato. Forgive me for not being calm my dearest brother.’ He uttered sarcastically. Silva’s lips quirked up in a smile. Karim’s lip twitched slightly.

‘Onii-chan, she is just going to see you for a while.’

‘Fine. Let me down and untie me, I will WALK myself there!’

‘Sorry, I can’t do that. Anna’s orders.’ He said. Hao shot him an annoyed look.

‘She asks you to tie me up and you just blindly follow her orders and didn’t even question it?’

‘Anna’s words are law.’ Yoh answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Hao felt like strangling him on the spot.

‘Whoa! What’s going on Yoh?! What did he do?!’ Horohoro exclaimed as he pointed to Hao. Apparently, he was coming out of his room. Hao released an annoyed grunt.

‘Thanks for nothing stupid Yoh.’ Hao muttered under his breath.

‘What is going on out there?’ Ren’s voice was heard from the room where Horohoro had just come out from. He slid opened the door and his eyes widened.

‘Now that’s a rare scene.’ He smirked and purposely slid open the door fully. Then Pilica, Jun, Tamao, Chocolove and Lyserg is seen from behind.

They all gasped at what they saw. Yoh turned to his brother. His face was shadowed by his long hair. He knew his brother must have felt really humiliated right now. In fact, he was probably feeling absolutely mortified.

Yoh somehow felt a little guilty. In truth, he was the one who unintentionally gave Anna the idea. It was a joke. Honest. Of course, joke or not once Anna made up her mind there was nothing you could do to change it. Anna then order-err...requested the Patch to help Yoh and of course, none of them had dared yo disobey the itako.

‘Silva, let’s just finish this quickly.’ Yoh told the Patch and he nodded.

They continued walking but this time the pyro shaman was silent.

‘Onii-chan…’ he called softly. The older boy didn’t respond. Yoh was getting anxious now.

Meanwhile, Hao was feeling angry and frustrated but he was too tired to do anything about it. Just a while ago, he had seen his _precious grandparents_ and _father_ , now he would have to see his younger brother’s  _dearest future wife_.

Sometimes he wondered if all this was worth it. Maybe he should have run back to the shrine the moment he had woke up in Izumo.

Finally, they arrived in front of a sliding door. Yoh knocked a few times then opened the door.

Silva slowly removed the boy from his shoulders and placed him in a sitting position beside the sliding door before turning to the younger boy.

‘Thank you, Silva. Sorry for causing you so much trouble to bring him here.’ Yoh said. Then he all but physically drag Hao in with him.

‘Yoh, you may leave.’ they heard Anna saying. Yoh came out a few seconds later pouting.

‘I guess we’ll be going then Yoh.’ Silva told him.

Yoh perked up again. ‘Alright! Thanks again for your help!’

The two Patch officials waved at Yoh then calmly left. Once Silva was sure they were out of hearing range, he shook his head.

‘That kid can’t be Hao.’ He stated. Karim glanced at him.

‘You noticed it too?’

‘Hao was an extremely prideful man. He would rather die first before letting himself get tied up much less be humiliated like that.’

‘Indeed.’ Karim nodded in agreement. ‘However, that doesn’t solve the question of why the kid would have Hao’s face. Unless...’

‘Unless, he isn’t even human.’ Silva’s expression turned dark.

‘No, that kid is 100% human, Silva. Though you are also right. That kids aura is slightly different compared to the real Hao.’ Silver Wing appeared out of thin air followed by the rest of his familiars.

Karim peered at the familiars then Silva. ‘You were spying on Hao?’

‘Of course, no one can change so much in a year. I’m not just talking about his personality. His fighting style is completely different, his furyoku levels are abysmal and he might have struggled when we were tying him up, he didn’t make a move to attack us. Not even once.’ Silva listed out. ‘Whoever that kid is, he is NOT Hao. He CAN’T be Hao. So who IS he? What does he want with Yoh?!’ Silva’s expression became troubled.

 **‘Ahh...that explains it.’** Karim thought.

‘You’re worried about Yoh aren’t you?’

Silva run his hand through his hair sighing. ‘He might have been related to Hao but he’s completely different. He’s a good kid. Though he’s too trusting for his own good.’

Karim smirked. ‘I don’t think you need to worry about that Silva. I’m absolutely sure someone’s already looking out for Yoh and keeping a close eye on Hao.’

Silva tilted his head slightly. ‘How can you be so sure?’

‘Think about it my friend. Everyone knows that Hao is the one of strongest shaman in the world. Yet that Anna demand us to go tie him up and bring him to her. She insisted it even. Don’t you think its a bit...interesting?’

Understanding dawned on Silva’s eyes, ‘She was confident that we would succeed.’ he answered.

‘Exactly, so you don’t have to worry too much about it.That fiancee of his already had everything under control. ’ Karim clapped him on the shoulder. ‘Yoh is in good hands.’

Silva’s lip curled into a wry smile. Truer words have never been spoken.

* * *

‘Eh?’ Hao stared at her in confusion. He thought she was planning to warn him to stay away from Yoh like how Yohmei did.

‘I said…I want you to work at Funbari Onsen.’ Anna said in her usual manner.

_‘You’ll be working for us-’_

Hao squashed down that voice in his head and shoved it into the back of his mind. ‘W-Well I don’t want it. I’m not your servant nor slave.’ Hao replied nonchalantly.

‘I don’t think you have a choice in this matter.’

_‘I don’t think you have a choice in this matter-’_

**‘Don’t get distracted!’** Hao scolded himself and shook his head slightly. He regarded Anna carefully.

‘Why are you asking me to work there when you know my presence will definitely cause a lot of trouble? Aren’t you worried about Yoh at all?’ Hao asked bluntly.

‘If you yourself had asked me such a question, then why should I worry?’ Anna asked. Hao blinked a few times.

What was that supposed to mean?

‘Anyway, you’re going to work at Funbari Onsen whether you like it or not. That’s all for now, you’re dismissed.’ Anna said and shoved him out of the room.

′ _Sigh…_ she’s as cold as always.′ he said and paused when a hand reached out to help him up. He peered up at Yoh who smiled sheepishly. Slowly, he accepted the offered hand.

Hao dusted off his clothes.

‘Onii-chan?’

‘Yes?’

’What did  _she_  tell you?′ Hao immediately knew whom he was referring to.

’It’s nothing important.  _She_  just told me that I’m going to work at Funbari Onsen whether I like it or not that’s all.′ He replied nonchalantly.

‘Just as I thought…’ Yoh sighed.

‘Great, she’ll probably make me do tons of work.’

‘Well, probably.’ Yoh shrugged.

‘Whatever.’ Hao grumbled then turned to Yoh. ‘Hey Yoh, you have any hiding places around here?’

Yoh blinked once. ‘Hiding...places?’

‘You know....a secret place you go to when you don’t want to be disturbed by anyone?’

* * *

Sunshine filtered through the leaves and rustled with the wind. The sound of the waterfall as the water cascaded into the depths of the clear pool soothed him.

Hao laid on one of the big boulders and sighed contentedly. ’This place is not bad.’ he remarked and smiled as he watched the clouds floating about in the sky through the gaps in between the trees. He’d missed this. Ever since he came to Izumo, he hadn’t had much chance to gaze at sky. Even when he had, he’d get interrupted by someone or something.

Yoh glanced at Hao curious and confused at once. This is the place where Yohmei used to train him to summon leaf spirits when he was a kid. Hao had lived in Izumo during his first life. Shouldn’t he have known this place like the back of his hand? After all, this is one of the most ideal place to practice shamanism.

Brushing it off, Yoh plopped down onto the ground in a cross legged position feeling conflicted. He stared at his unblemished forearm.

Yoh had thought he was going to end up bruised and bloody today when Anna gave him that order to tie Hao up. Probably another one of her twisted idea of training him to be stronger and all that.

He didn’t know how long they’ve been at it, only that the four of them had been struggling for a while. Though Hao’s movements had been firm and swift, it was surprisingly gentle. As if...he didn’t want anybody to get hurt.

Then to make it more confusing, Hao....Hao stopped. He still felt a bit incredulous when he thought about it.

They were still fighting things out and trying to pin down all four of his limbs when suddenly, Hao let out a sigh and stopped fighting altogether! 

Powerful or weak, Asakura Hao NEVER go down without a fight.

Yoh let out a small sigh.

Hao had changed and Yoh knew that. Still...he couldn't help but wonder.

Can someone really change so much in such a short span of time?

 **'There is one possibility.'**  His mind whispered. 

Yoh glanced at his brother in question.

‘Nii-chan?’

‘Hmm?’

‘I have been wondering....What happened to you after the tournament?’

If Yoh hadn’t been watching closely, he would have missed the way Hao stiffened slightly before relaxing again. ‘Recovering from my wounds of course. What else do you think I’ll be doing?’

‘I don't know. But definitely not something as simple as recovering from wounds.’ Yoh replied. 

'Why is that?' 

'Personality doesn't change over one night you know. You came back, but you were different. Something big must have happened to you to caused such a change.' Hao finally sit up and turned to face Yoh looking curious. They didn't say anything for a while. 

‘You know,' Hao tilted his head slightly. '...you're a lot more intuitive then I had given you credit for.’ Hao finally admitted.

‘You’re not answering my questions Aniki…’

‘I don’t think you want to know. It was an incident that happened after the tournament.’ He replied nonchalantly.

Silence engulfed the two boys. Yoh lowered his head.

′ _Sigh_ …for the thousandth time, you don’t need to feel guilty about it.′ He told the younger boy.

‘That’s why I don’t really want to talk about it.’ Hao muttered under his breath. He sighed.

‘So what was it about?’ Yoh asked surprising the fire shaman. He didn’t really expect him to continue with the discussion. To be truthful, he didn’t want him to know anything that had happened after the fight especially the time he spent with  _them_ when he had actually…

 _**Lost his memories** _ **.**

‘Well…I…uh…I forgot.’ He blurted out randomly still trying to digest the fact that Yoh was not deterred from the topic. Yoh blinked for a few moments.

‘You’re a poor liar Aniki.’ Yoh told him and smiled mischievously.

‘I’m not lying!’

‘Yes you are!’

‘No I’m not!’

‘Yes you are!’

‘NO I’M NOT!’

‘Hmph…Fine, if you don’t want to tell me, then I’ll just tell everyone what happened when we’re at the lake.’ Yoh lied. He wouldn’t do things like that especially when that person was his twin brother.

Hao’s eyes widened.

‘You wouldn’t.’ he glared at his younger brother.

‘Well, that depends on you.’ He said and smiled as evilly as he could muster which again, surprised his twin. That did it.

Hao huffed crossing his arms. ‘Fine. I’ll tell you what happened but you must promise me to never tell a single soul.’

‘Alright, I promise.’ He said.

'Good.' Hao laid back down on the boulder.

'I thought you're going to tell me-'

'Just let me organize my thoughts first okay!' Hao snarled then sighed in resignation. 'I'll...I'll tell you at dinner.'

Yoh stared at him for a while longer before finally nodding. '...Okay.' 

Hao laid back down on the boulder, no longer as relaxed as he had been earlier. This is going to be a long day…

* * *

 He stood up and stared at him with such wide eyes that Hao thought his eyeball was going to pop out of his head any time by now. The others turned and gave the two of them a questioning stare.

‘YOU LOST YOUR Mmph--’ Yoh couldn’t finish his sentences as his brother clamped his mouth shut with his hand. Hao then quickly pulled him down to his seat.

’You promised  _not to tell a single soul_ …′ Hao hissed in anger.

‘Sorry.’ He whispered.

‘That’s not my point. Look around you…’ he whispered.

It was then that Yoh realized that everyone’s attention was focused on the two of them. He made gestures at them that seemed to usher them to continue with what they’re doing.

’Okay, so you actually  _lost all your memories_  after the tournament and you just got it back at around two or three weeks ago?! And after your memories recovered you just went and revived all those you’ve killed before you went to find Opacho and your other comrades?! But how did you even remained alive after the tournament?! I went all out when I attacked you that time.′ Yoh whispered so that no one could hear him.

‘Yes you did but I managed to survive thanks to my huge amount of furyoku. Also, I had received help.’

‘You received help?’

‘You see Yoh, someone found me and they tend to my injuries. When I awoke I realized that I had no memories of my past so they took me in for their own purposes?’

‘But if they took you in for their own purposes does that mean they make you work for them like a…slave?’

‘Well... not till that extent.’

Silence...

Yoh gave him a look that says he didn’t believe him one bit.

Hao looked away. ’They sort of taught me how to do almost all kinds of....house work in an  _extremely_  proper way. Which explains why I can do house chores now.′ Hao explained.

 **‘Why do I feel like Hao didn’t completely divulge everything?’**  Yoh thought as he eyed him forgetting that Hao could read thoughts.

 **‘Yeap. Definitely his-my twin.’**  Hao thought to himself dryly.

‘Look, I’m only telling you because you were so bothered about my actions you were babbling all sorts of nonsense in your head.' Hao lightly knocked his knuckles against Yoh's forehead as he said that. 'Seriously if you ask me, half of your thought doesn’t even make sense Yoh.’

Yoh flushed. He’d forgot.

‘I know you forgot. That’s why I am reminding you. For the record, I originally planned to leave all three of you bloody and bruised. The only reason I stopped is because its too much trouble for me. Many people are already after me. I don't need more.’ Hao pointed out.

It was a lie. He never planned to hurt them. However, Yoh had been right in that he’d rather die that go down without a fight.

He had been able to keep them at bay at first but then, he got careless. When he’d laid his hand on Yoh’s abdomen to push him away, his brother had flinched as if he’d been punched. The sheer terror on his brother’s face had shocked him enough to make him pause in his actions.

Then Yoh’s thoughts entered his mind and he’d completely freeze.

An excruciating pain as a familiar hand penetrated into his stomach....that feeling of being ripped apart from the inside out.....screaming....that strange feeling of nothingness where his awareness seems to have left him altogether....

Hao honestly wished he hadn’t seen that.

‘Nii-chan!’ Hao let out a small hiss when Yoh pinched him.

‘What was that for?’ Hao growled.

‘You were spacing out again.’ Yoh chided.

Oh...right. He’d spaced out.

Hao cleared his throat. ‘Right. As I was saying, half of your thoughts doesn’t make sense. As for the rest...you know what happened. You figured out I’m amnesic, so I might as well come out and say it. Congratulations by the way.’ Hao muttered dryly.

Yoh on the other hand looked thoughtful. ‘Well....the amnesia certainly explained a lot of things. Your sudden change in personality in such a short time....your odd fighting style...wait...what about Spirit of Fire?’ Yoh asked. ‘You can’t use your Spirit of Fire right? How did you manage to get back here then?’

Hao crossed his arms. ‘Am I a suspect under interrogation? As far as I know I have already told you things that had happened after the tournament.’

‘Right…sorry...’ Yoh scratched the back of his head.

‘What about you? What did you do after the tournament?’ Hao suddenly changed the subject.

‘I just did the usual…training…school… more training…’

‘Let me guess…Anna wouldn’t let you off the hook?’

‘Yes…’

They were about to continue when the Hanagumi suddenly appeared and bowed at them.

‘Yoh-sama and Hao-sama, Anna-sama wants to see the both of you.’ Kanna said in her usual manner.

Hao turned to his younger brother who just shrugged at him as a reply.

‘Where is she?’ Yoh asked as the two boys turned their attention to the three girls in front of them.

‘She’s at the tea room.’ Macchi said cheerfully.

‘Alright.’ Hao said as he stood and walked away.

‘Onii-chan, wait for me!’ he said as he went to catch up with his brother.

* * *

‘They’re going to Funbari Onsen?’ Yoh gave her fiancee a questioning stare.

‘Yes. The Tao family, the Diethel family, the X-Laws and our family will be all be staying there for a little while longer before returning so you all have better treat them well or else...you’ll have me to answer to.’ Anna said in her usual cold manner.

They are currently having a meeting where only all the future workers of Funbari Onsen are involved. Anna had previously shoved out Horohoro, Chocolove, Pilica, Jun, and Ren from this room. Right now, only those that are involved were inside the room.

‘What about the Patch officials?’ Yoh suddenly asked.

‘They’ll be going back to America. They prefer to stay in touch with the Great Spirits in case anything unusual happened.’

‘Oh…’

‘Also, from today onwards Hao and the Hanagumi will be working with us in Funbari Onsen.’ She turned to the aforementioned and gave them their list of work. Hao’s list was unusually longer than the girls as the paper’s length had reached the floor and continued rolling. As soon as he got the list he immediately analyzed the list.

Yoh stared at the list with complete apprehension. ‘A-Anna, isn’t Aniki’s list of work a little too…long?’

‘Well, since he’s the strongest shaman in the world, it shouldn’t be a problem. Right Hao?’ she purposely asked the boy.

‘Sure. Although…’ Hao looked up from the list and stared at Anna as if she was stupid. ‘Instead of writing such a long list of work, why don’t you just tell me I’ll have to help everyone with their work?’ He asked dryly.

Silence engulfed them as the question was left hanging in the air.

‘You have to help EVERYONE with their work?!’ all those that were in the room exclaimed in surprise.

Yoh snatched the list of work from his brother’s hands and read it.

_-Help Ryu in the kitchen._

_-Help Faust in medication stuff._

_-Help the Hanagumi with the house chores._

_-Help Yoh with training._

_Etc…_

Those are some of the tasks written in the list. All of it consists of the word ‘help’.

‘A-A-Anna, even if Aniki was the strongest shaman in the world that doesn’t mean he should help EVERYONE with their work…I mean, he still a human…’ Yoh whined at his fiancee. The Itako gave him a withering glare and the boy cringed in fear.

’It’s fine Otouto. It’s not like I’ve never done this before. Plus, I won’t be going to school and I’ll only be doing most of the task  _if_  my assistance is really necessary.′ He told his younger brother quietly.

Yoh twitched slightly. ‘I...I guess…’

‘Also, he will be going for training together with you.’ Anna continued.

‘Onii-chan’s already the strongest shaman in the world. Why does he need to train?’

‘To prevent you from slacking and since I could sense your whereabouts easily, she could always ask me to look for you when you slack off.’ Hao told the confused boy.

‘Plus, I will be increasing your training three times so if he were to be with you he can always carry you home if you were to faint from exhaustion.’ Anna continued.

‘T-T-THREE TIMES?!’ Yoh exclaimed.

If looks could kill, Yoh would have been dead right now.

‘Yes Anna….’ stream of tears rolled down his cheek.

‘So, when will they be going to Funbari?’ Ryu interrupted. Anna turned to him and for a moment she said nothing.

‘Tonight…’ Anna told them.

* * *

Hao slide open the wooden door to his younger brother’s room.

‘Are you done with the packing?’ he asked the younger boy.

‘Almost…’ he said as he tried to zip his luggage with difficulty. Hao sighed and went to help. Unlike Yoh, he did it with ease.

‘There…all done.’ Hao said and lifted the luggage off the ground. Yoh grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

‘We should get going now. We wouldn’t want Anna to get angry for waiting too long.’ The older twin said and went out of the room with the luggage in his right hand and a small bag in his left. The other twin followed from behind. As Hao was walking, Yoh suddenly focused his gaze on the bag in the older boy’s hand.

′ **Now that I thought about it, where did that bag come from? Aniki didn’t take anything when he came here…** ′ Yoh thought to himself. Somehow it looks so familiar…

‘It’s the present you gave me yesterday. I haven’t got the time to open it so I just kept it in the bag.’ Hao answered.

‘Oh…’ Yoh grinned. He had forgotten that he was the one who gave it to him.

They had already arrived at the gate without knowing and everyone was busy placing their luggage in the car boot. Hao passed the luggage to Ryu who then placed it inside the boot on one of the car. Yoh then forcefully pushed him inside the car and went in after him. Once all of them were ready to go, they set off to Funbari altogether.

* * *

‘We’re home.’ A young girl announced cheerfully and went in followed by her mother.

She went to the hall and saw no one. She exchanged glances with her mother before turning her attention back to the hall. They went to the kitchen and saw no one as well. The girl was about to yell out loudly when she heard a loud ′ _ITAI!!!′_.

Apparently, the noise came from the garden. The girl and the mother ran out of the kitchen and saw three people-two of them were adults while the other one was a teenager. The teenage girl has long blond hair which is tied up in French braid style. The older girl was a brunette and hair tied up in a pigtail at the left side of her head. Meanwhile, the boy (also a brunette) had short hair and he was struggling to stand as the brunette girl was lying on top of him.

‘You’re both done already?’ the teenage girl said in a mocking tone as she crossed her hands over her chest.

‘Yukino-chan, you’re too strict on us...We’re not so strong like Yuuji…’ the girl said childishly despite her elderly figure.

‘K-Kaoru, get…off me…you’re…heavy…’ the boy told the girl with brown hair.

‘Sorry, Shinichi…’ she said and removed herself from the boy.

‘Training again?’ the mother interrupted. All three of them shifted their attention on the mother and the little girl. The girl who went by the name Yukino immediately straightened herself and bowed at the two.

‘Welcome back Mistress Sayuri and welcome back Miss Sara. I’m sorry to have not noticed your arrival beforehand. Please forgive me for my impoliteness.’ the blond girl said automatically. When she realized what she’d done, the girl mentally kicked herself.

All of them gave her mixed expressions of both amusement and fond exasperation.

The woman smiled and went towards the girl. She patted her on the head.

‘You don’t need to be so polite Yukino, just address us by our names. We’re a family now. Have you forgotten?’ she said softly.

Yukino’s eyes widened as she realized her mistake. She was no longer a servant of the family ever since _that_  incident happened.

‘S-Sorry.’

‘Well, I guess it can’t be helped. You’ve been serving us for years after all.’ Sayuri told her.

‘So, did you find him?’ Sara suddenly interrupted. All attentions were then focused on the girl. For a moment there was silence.

‘No, we didn’t. Dad had decided to move on to our next location since we couldn’t find him here in Izumo.’ Shinichi responded and Kaoru nodded in agreement.

‘I see… Well then, where are we going next?’ Sayuri asked.

‘Funbari.’ All three of them answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review!!!!!! Or gimme a hit!!! Or kudos!!!! 
> 
> Anyone? 
> 
> Pretty please?
> 
> *hides in a corner bawling cause no one cares about this invisible author*


	7. You're Not Welcomed Here!

Ring!!!!!!!'

The alarm clock in his room blared loudly and Yoh stirred in his futon for a moment. He felt for his alarm and turned it off. He continued to sleep. He heard the noise of his sliding door being slid open but paid no attention to it.

'Yoh-sama! Wake up!' Opacho said as she went towards the sleeping boy.

'Mmphh… _snores_ …'

'No! Yoh-sama has to wake up now! Wake up! Wake up!'

'Just 10 more minutes Opacho…'

'No! Yoh-sama! Wake up or Hao-sama will get angry!'

'… _snores_ … _snores_ …'

* * *

He ran down the stairs hastily as he tied his hair. He went into the kitchen and saw Hao washing the dishes while Opacho and Anna were eating with the others. Anna who was eating immediately gave him a death glare and he cringed in fear. Opacho and the others stared at him worriedly. Hao immediately turned off the tap and turned to Yoh. He was wearing the same attire as Yoh and his hair was tied up in a ponytail. He wasn't wearing his earrings and gloves.

'S-Sorry I'm late.' Yoh told the two. Hao gave him an unreadable expression while Anna continued to glare at him.

'Finish up your lunch. We'll start training after that.' Hao said and Yoh sighed in relief. He sat down at the table and began eating.

A few days had passed ever since Yoh returned from Izumo. Hao was now living/working with them. Meanwhile, Luchist and Opacho wanted to stay close to their master so they both shifted in as well. However, they would have to help the Itako in Funbari Onsen just like Hao. Early in the morning before Yoh had awoken, Hao will be doing training to be ahead of time. After that, he would be helping the others with their work. Surprisingly, he had no problem in handling all the assignments Anna had given him. He had handled them with a swiftness and precision that is almost inhumane. At  first, it creep everyone out but after that they got used to it. 

Most of his former enemies have come to accept him and he seemed to get along well with everyone especially Silva, Lyserg and the iron maiden other than Yoh.

Today, Hao was going to replace Anna in training Yoh because she said wasn't feeling really well and she wanted to take a break. In truth, she only wanted to see whether Hao qualified to be his fiancée's second trainer or not. Although, this would probably be the first and the last time she was going to let him after seeing him so lenient towards Yoh. Hao wiped his hands with a dry cloth as he politely asked Ryu to finish his work for him. Then, he walked towards the table where Yoh is sitting.

_SMACK!_

'Ouch! What was that for?!' Yoh asked his brother. Hao glared at him.

'Oversleeping. You're supposed to be training now. If you're my allies, I would have considered burning you into crisp or slash you with my katana you lazy brat.' The pyro shaman said angrily.

'I said I'm sorry…' Yoh whined at his brother. Hao scowled at him.

'Sorry doesn't change anything. It's already 6.30 in the morning. You've already missed two and a half hours of practice.'

'It's just two hours…' Yoh gave him a puppy face.

'JUST TWO HOURS?!' Hao raised his voice. He sighed and shook his head thinking of how lucky Yoh is.

 **'If I had been late for training for even a minute, I would have been skinned alive** **…'** Hao thought to himself begrudgingly.

'J-Just finish off your breakfast!' Hao growled.

He went to sit at another table that was placed in the room. (Due to too many guests, they had added in a few tables in the room.) He took the newspaper that Lyserg's father had just finished reading and start reading its content. Meanwhile, Yoh continued with his breakfast.

* * *

 'Aniki... I'm tired…' Yoh huffed out and evade a slash. 'I need....' Yoh barely evaded the next blow and tried to stabilize his breathing. 'I need time OUTTTT!' Yoh shrieked at the end as Hao's attack cut him on the upper arm and managed to draw blood.

He had been training for four hours straight as a punishment. This time however, he didn't run 100 laps or do his usual push-ups. This time he was fighting a one-on-one battle and the opponent is none other than Hao. Again, Hao had gained the upper hand without breaking a sweat and also using Ryu's wooden sword instead of his katana. Not to mention he fought without using an oversoul as well.

'No.' Hao bluntly replied.

'You....' Yoh covered his wounds with one hand while he glared at Hao accusingly. 'You cut me!' Yoh cried out and his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fainted. His oversoul then dissipated.

'Yoh-dono!' Amidamaru exclaimed as he stared warily at his fainted master.

Hao sighed and lowered the wooden sword he was holding. Yoh's stamina was a lot weaker than he'd though. 'Idiot. Don't you know better than to pass out in front of the enemy? Thank God this is just a spar. If this is a real battle, you'd be dead.' He muttered under his breath. He patched him up quickly before sitting down on the ground to wait for Yoh to regain consciousness. He stared up at the sky as the samurai spirit floated next to him.

'Amidamaru, does Yoh not spar often with his friends?' Hao asked frowning.

'Usually, Yoh-dono only run laps and do the assigned exercises Anna-dono assigned. He does not do mock battle with his friends.' Amidamaru replied.

Hao turned to the samurai incredulously. 'You're kidding right?'

Amidamaru shook his head. 'Yoh-dono never spar against his friends. Ren-dono offered a few times but-'

'Unbelieveable! How could Anna assigned only exercises and never arranged any form of sparring for Yoh?! Fighting experience can only be gained by fighting an actual opponent! What on earth is that Itako thinking only giving him 'warm ups' and not pushing his abilities further?!'

Amidamaru peered at Hao with slight amusement. While he do agree with Hao that battle experience can only be gained through numerous battles, no one would dare to deem Anna's assigned training to be something as meager as a 'warm up'.

Hao raked his hands through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh. 'No wonder he can't keep up with me at all. If Yoh rarely sparred, then I really did went too hard on him this time....' 

'Hmph. More like Yoh is not strong enough to endure it that's all.' a cold voice replied. Hao stiffened slightly before regaining his composure. He turned to the source of the voice.

'What do you want?'

'Yohmei and Kino-sensei would like to meet you. They're in the tea room. Make sure you go there alone.' She emphasized on the word 'alone'. Hao gave her a searching look. Amidamaru glanced between the two warily.

'...I'll be there in a few minutes.' Hao finally said. He stood up, scooped up his little brother into his arms and quickly speed walk into the house. Anna and Amidamaru followed closely. After leaving Yoh in his room and Amidamaru staying to keep vigil, Hao and Anna both headed to the tea room. Hao walked at the front while Anna remained a few steps behind. 

After a while of silence, Hao asked the Itako, 'I thought you said I was supposed to go alone?' Hao suddenly turned to face her, his eyes sharp and piercing. 'Or perhaps you're worried I will run away?'

'Don't take it the wrong way Hao. I'm just following orders from them.' The ice queen said coldly though Hao caught a hint of apprehension in her eyes. 

They arrived at the door and Hao entered room without knocking. Yohmei, Kino and Mikihisa were sitting in the room wating for him. Kino gave nod at Anna and she closed the door behind the pyro shaman without entering. She remained outside the room to prevent anyone from either eavesdropping or entering.

'Have a seat.' Mikihisa told the boy.

The boy remained unfazed though a suspicion had immediately formed on his mind. It's not that hard to guess their intentions to be honest. After all, the X-Laws are in the room as well.

'We don't intend to have an argument or a fight if not necessary so please, just sit down will you?' Yohmei said coldly.

'Sure.' He said casually. 'If not neccessary.' He mimicked Yohmei's words. Yohmei twitched slightly having been caught at his own lie and Hao smirked. Nevertheless, Hao sat down.

Escaping this place is not much of a problem to him. Though he'll need to move fast. He can't afford to get hurt further. The injury he received from the shaman fight and his former enemies in Izumo hadn't even recovered yet. 

They were silent as they stared at each other for long moments. Hao gazed at Yohmei unblinkingly which unnerved him slightly. Of course, what he didn't realize was that Hao was mentally calculating the various ways to escape without sustaining too much injuries or causing too much casualties.

'Hao…' Yohmei finally broke the silence unknowingly snapping Hao out of his thoughts. 

'We would like to ask you to--'

'--leave Yoh as soon as possible. We do not welcome a demon like you being near with Yoh.' Hao finished Yohmei's sentence.

'You don't need to worry Asakura Yohmei. As I have told you I will leave when the right time comes. Is that all you want to tell me?'

There were silence as the X-Laws stared at the fire shaman unbelievingly. How could the great Asakura Hao agreed to something so easily? They would have done that in the past if they knew he was actually that easy to be negotiated. Still, they remained silent out of respect for the Asakura.

'We want you to leave immediately. I don't want you to be poisoning my grandson's mind. Get out of his life and never come back. We don't give a damn about you. I don't care where you go as long as you stay away from Yoh.' Yohmei said coldly.

Hao sighed and stood up.

'Fine. I'll leave but in case you don't know, it takes time for me to pack my stuff.'

'Then make it quick.' Yohmei told him. The boy was about to walk out of the room when he suddenly stopped.

'Ah…I almost forgot to warn you, since I'll be leaving this place, remind Yoh to not leave the house alone tonight.'

'ARE YOU THREATENING ME?!' Yohmei exclaimed.

'In case you haven't realized, Yoh and I pretty much shared the same face. You'll be surprised how easy it is for people to mistake one twin for the other.'

'WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!'

Hao eyed Yohmei as if he was stupid. 'Figure it out for yourself.' 

* * *

 'Where's Aniki?' Yoh suddenly asked all those who was in the living room. He hadn't seen him at all after he had regained his consciousness. They were silent as the question was left hanging in the air. Yoh almost thought he won't be getting an answer when someone suddenly interrupted from behind.

'He left already.' Yohmei told his grandson.

'What?' Yoh turned to them. He thought he had misheard.

'Like what your grandfather said, he already left.' Kino said.

Silence…

'HE ALREADY LEFT?! WITHOUT EVEN A WORD?!' Yoh exclaimed.

'Calm down Yoh. I was the one who shooed him off.' Yohmei spoke calmly.

'WHAT?! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!'

'It's for your own good! You would have lived a better life without him!'

However, his grandson already walked away from the place and was now wearing his sandals at the entrance. Just then the entrance door slid open revealing Mikihisa and Keiko.

'Yoh, where are you going?' Mikihisa suddenly asked.

'Mikihisa stop him! He's going to find that demon!' Yohmei shouted.

'HE IS NOT A DEMON! HE IS MY BROTHER! DON'T CALL HIM THAT!' Yoh said and quickly shove his parents out of the way before they could stop him.

'I'M GOING TO FIND HIM! I HAVE A BONE TO PICK WITH HIM!' he said and ran out of the house only to be attacked by a demon that appeared out of nowhere.

'Yoh!' all of them exclaimed in unison.

The demon had a pattern and a talisman in the middle of his body. It's the exact the same pattern as the other demon he had encountered at his home in Izumo. The demon attacked the boy but he managed to dodge it in time.

'Yoh, catch!' Mikihisa called out.

He turned to his father who immediately threw his katana and Futsu no Mitama at him. As he was about to catch his sword, the demon charged at him causing him to be thrown sideways. The katana dropped on the floor. The demon attacked him again and he dodged its attack once again. After that he quickly ran and grabbed his weapon.

'Amidamaru! Oversoul! Spirit of Sword!'

He ran straight towards the demon and charged at him but before his oversoul could touch the demon it was already nullified. His eyes widened. The demon attacked him and he lost his grip on his katana as he fell on the floor. The demon charged and gave him his final blow.

'YOH!!!' all of them exclaimed in a panicking tone.

Yoh closed his eyes and braced himself for the attack.

_Whoosh!_

Yoh opened one of his eyes when he felt nothing and the first thing he saw was the demon's hand almost reaching his body. He opened both of his eyes and he realized that the demon had been stationary all the while. Suddenly, it was consumed by blue-colored flames and it began to topple down. Coincidentally, Yoh was just underneath him.

'WAHHHH!!!' Yoh exclaimed and rolled away from the burning demon.

'I told you, don't let him leave the house alone or he'll be the next  _target_.' A deep voice said. Yoh turned and saw his brother with small blue-colored fireballs around him. He didn't look really happy at the moment.

'HAO! WHY ARE YOU HERE?!'

'If I weren't here then your grandson should have been dead by now Yohmei.' Hao's voice was frosty and the fireballs around him burned brighter as he said that. Yohmei fell silent.

'ANIKI! I HAD A BONE TO PICK WITH YOU!'

'You can pick all you want but I'm not going to argue with you. Plus, there is already a lot of bone right beside you.' Hao told his younger brother.

'THAT'S! NOT! THE POINT!' Yoh said angrily.

'Anyway, now that I'm done I'll be going.' He said and slowly walked away.

'WAIT! ANIKI!' Yoh stood up but fell down on the floor. Keiko and Mikihisa ran towards him. Hao halted his movement.

'Your bone has been dislocated. You shouldn't move so much.' he told him without turning to face him.

'Why? Why can't you stay with me? Aren't we brothers?' Yoh asked quietly.

Hao remained silent for a moment before he turned to face Yoh. 'Yes, Hao and Yoh Asakura are brothers. Identical twins no less.' he said softly with a wistful smile on his face.

Yoh didn't understand why Hao had looked so melancholic as he said that.

 **[I'm sorry Otouto.]**  He thought to his younger brother and disappeared in a lick of flames.

* * *

A few weeks had passed by after Hao had left. The X-Laws, the Diethels, and the Tao's had returned to their homeland a few days after the incident. Chocolove and Horohoro went back to their respective homeland as well leaving only the Asakura family. They decided to stay to keep an eye on Yoh. Unlike the last time when Hao left, he was still his cheerful self and it was extremely creepy in their opinions even though he had went out of the house early in the morning and returned late at night then ended up being scolded. He wasn't even depressed at all. It was as if Hao's leaving was a good thing. When they asked him whether he was sad about the fire shaman leaving, he would always smile and say…

'Don't worry. Everything will work out the way it should be.'

Today he was going for his usual training. Manta and Amidamaru was accompanying him. Manta stared at his best friend warily. Yoh realized it and smiled back at him.

'Yoh-kun, are you really alright?' Manta asked finally. Yoh stopped walking and blinked at the boy.

'Of course. Why did you say that?' Yoh asked clueless about what his friend was trying to tell him.

'It's not what I meant…I-It just that…Hao…aren't you worry about him? I mean we haven't seen him for a week.' Manta told him. Yoh stared at him in shock for a moment.

'Oh…so you're worried about Aniki…' Yoh said teasingly.

'W-What?! No, I did not!'

'You said 'we' didn't you?'

Manta fell silent. He didn't want to admit it but a part of him somehow did worry about Yoh's twin brother.

'That's very kind of you Manta.'

Yoh continued with his run. Manta followed him in silent. Out of the corner of Yoh eyes, he could see the weariness that dwells in his friends eyes. He didn't know whether he should tell the boy about it. He turned to Amidamaru who smile and nodded reassuringly. A smile creased his lips and he went to pull Manta's hand.

'Yoh-kun, what are you doing?' he stared at him questioningly.

'You'll find out soon enough.'

'Yoh-kun, mind to ask why are we in a forest?'

'I'll explain it later. Right now just make sure you hold my hand tight or else you'll be lost.' He said as he lead the boy through the forest. His spirit followed them from behind.

Suddenly, small fireballs appeared in all direction. The flames merge together and engulfed a part of the forest that was in front of them.

'Wahhhh! Fire!' Manta exclaimed and ran away releasing his grip on Yoh's hand.

'Manta! Wait!'

The flames spread quickly and formed a circle of flames around them.

'Wahhhh! We're going to die!'

Manta ran frantically around the circle of fire. Yoh chased him from behind followed by Amidamaru. Finally, he caught his hand but the boy struggled to break free from his grip.

'Manta please, calm down. It won't do us any harm.' Yoh said calmly. Manta stopped struggling and the flames abruptly disappeared. No damage was done anywhere. It was as if it had never happened in the first place. Manta stared at the forest disbelievingly.

'B-But how did--'

'It's just an illusion Manta. It's a trap used to prevent intruders in the forest.'

'Eh?!'

'I'll explain all this later. Right now we need to get through this forest first.' Yoh told him and began to lead him through the forest.

After 10 to 20 minutes later, they arrived at a staircase leading to a shrine. Yoh went in through the torii followed by Amidamaru while Manta stopped before the torii to get the full view of the shrine. Yoh turned to Manta who was too busy focusing his gaze around the place and smiled. He went towards him and pulled him in by the hand. As the two of them walk, Manta's gaze travelled all over the place. Judging by the features of this shrine it must have been a very old and traditional shrine. Even so, it looked as good as a newly built shrine. The caretaker of this shrine has done a great job maintaining this place. There were cherry blossoms tree planted here and there and lanterns with star emblem were hung all over the place including the entrance that they had previously passed through. Yoh stopped abruptly causing the small boy to accidentally bump into him. He stared forward and saw Luchist but Yoh immediately pushed him behind his back.

'Don't speak first.' Yoh whispered to the small boy.

'Yoh-sama, when did you arrive?' Luchist asked not noticing the presence of the small boy behind.

'A few minutes ago, what are you doing here Luchist?'

'I was going to have some tea. Would you like to join me?'

'Sure. Can he join in as well?' Yoh said and step aside revealing Manta. Luchist stared at Manta in surprise before turning back to Yoh with a wary expression.

'Don't worry Luchist. He is a trustworthy friend.' Yoh said and smiled reassuringly. Luchist continued to stare at Manta for a few moments. Manta smiled at him nervously.

'Since Yoh-sama said so, it shouldn't be a problem.' Luchist told them.

'Thank you Luchist.'

Luchist said nothing and walked away. Yoh and Manta followed from behind while Amidamaru floated beside Yoh in spiritual ball mode.

They walk and arrived at a huge mansion that was just behind the shrine. They went into the dining room and Luchist gestured for them to have a seat.

'Well then, I shall inform Hao-sama of your arrival.' Luchist stood up and went out of the room.

'What?! H-Hao is here?!' Manta exclaimed earning another surprised glance from Luchist. He turned to Yoh who gestured for him to leave. He nodded and went out of the room.

'Well, since you were really worried, I thought I could make things easier by bringing you here. Since we're here, might as well I explain everything to you Manta.'

'Didn't I tell you that outsiders aren't allowed in here?' 

They both turned and saw Hao leaning on the door. He was wearing a white kimono with blue colored patterns at the bottom. Yoh had the feeling that he had been there already even before Luchist went out the room. Luchist and Opacho were standing behind him while Matamune was floating beside him in spiritual ball mode. Hao went in and took a seat followed by Luchist and Opacho. When he had made himself comfortable, he turned to his younger brother.

'I thought I made it clear that you're not allowed to bring an outsider here?' he chided the younger boy.

'Yes.' Yoh grinned looking completely unrepentant. Hao turned to Manta who gave him a confused look.

'Is he really worth our trust Yoh?' he asked surprising his twin. He thought he was going to end up in an argument just for the sake of convincing his brother. Hao read his mind and sighed.

'I don't have that much time to argue with you and also, what that had happened already happened so there is nothing I can do about it. So, is he worth our trust?'

'Yes.' Yoh replied almost immediately. Hao turned to Manta who looked completely lost.

'Otouto haven't told you anything yet, did he?' Hao asked the small boy who nodded in response.

'Alright, we will both sort out the things to you but in one condition, we need you to keep all this as a secret from everyone especially the Asakura family. Think you can do that?'

Manta glanced at Yoh who nodded at him.

'Yes.' Manta answered turning to face Hao again.

* * *

 ' _Sigh_ …He's late again.' Anna said as she crossed her arms over her chest. She had been waiting at the doorstep for hours but Yoh was still nowhere to be seen. She was about to leave when the door suddenly slid open. She quickly turned but to her dismay it was Keiko who slid open the door. She sighed.

'Yoh hasn't returned yet?' Keiko asked. Anna nodded in response.

The door suddenly slid open again and revealed Manta and Yoh. Manta was holding two bags on his hands.

'We're--Eh? Mom, Anna what are you two doing here?' Yoh asked surprised.

'Where were you?!' Yoh took a step back at Anna's angry glare.

'I'm...I went to the mall with Manta and I saw this.' Yoh grinned as he dig into his pocket and held out a small box towards Anna. Yoh opened the box revealing a silver bracelet with apple shaped beads around it.

'It's for you. I hope you liked it.' Yoh scratched the back of his head as he blushed. Anna remained silent for a moment. She slowly took the box from his hands and turned away from Yoh.

'I'll still double your training since you made me wait.' Anna said and walked away. As she closed the door of her room, a smile curved her lips as she looked at the box she was holding.

'Thank you, Yoh.' She whispered silently.

* * *

 Yoh blinked as Anna walked away from him without saying anything. Keiko smiled in amusement watching his son's behavior towards the Itako. Yoh turned to Manta earning a shrug from him.

'All right boys, run along now. I'll be preparing dinner then.' Keiko said and walked away.

'Mind if I help?' Manta asked.

'Thank you for your kindness but I don't think I need extra help.' Keiko said and went into the kitchen.

'Yoh.' Yoh turned to the source of voice and realized that it was his grandfather.

'Yes?'

'We would like to talk to you.' 

* * *

Yoh blinked once. Blinked twice.

'....Pardon?'

'We've decided that you should come back to Izumo and live with us.' Kino repeated her husbands words.

Yoh's smiled faded immediately.

'Why? Is there something wrong?' Yoh asked.

'No. It's just that…'

'We don't want you to be so far from us since Hao's whereabouts was not known. That's why we want you to return. It will also be easier for us to keep an eye on you.' Mikihisa continued.

'No.' Yoh replied.

'What?!' Yohmei was really shocked that he had answered so quickly.

'Don't worry. I'll be fine here. After all, Hao is harmless and plus, if he wanted to kill me he would have done it in Izumo. Moreover, Horohoro always visits us here and there is Manta and Re--' he was abruptly cut off by his grandfather.

'Hao is the world's strongest shaman! How could you say he's harmless?! You and your friends don't even stand a chance against him!' Yohmei raised his voice.

Yoh frowned a little. 'What I know is that he won't do any harm against us Ojii-chan.'

'No. You must not believe him Yoh. He cannot be trusted. Right now he is probably planning on how to take revenge on you.'

'He isn't planning to take revenge. Even if he is, I won't go back to Izumo. I'm not ready to return yet.'

He had finally got the opportunity to become brothers with Hao and his family was going to snatch it away from him just like that? No way he was going to let something like this to happen. He would do anything to continue to be brothers with Hao even if it means hiding it from them.

'I won't let you put yourself in danger. You're going home whether you like it or not!'

'No.' The steel in Yoh's voice surprised everyone in the room. Yoh stood up. 'Ojii-chan, I am not leaving Funbari. The end.' He said firmly and walked away before any of them could form a reply. 

Everyone in the room seemed to be in shock. Ever since Yoh was young, he had never protested any of the decision that was made for him. Yet, he just did. He stopped abruptly when he was walking up the stairs.

'I already took my dinner before I return so you don't need to call me for dinner.' He said without turning to them and continued to walk up the stairs. Manta stood up and ran up the stairs trying to catch up with his best friend. Amidamaru floated behind the small boy.

'Don't need to call me dinner as well.' Manta manage to tell them before he disappeared from their sight.

* * *

 Meanwhile, Hao was standing at the corridor gazing at the stars. Winds ruffled his long silky hair and the chirping of the crickets can be heard. It was very peaceful and silent until…

' _Fuyuki_.' Hao called out to no one in particular. Suddenly, a silhouette appeared behind him. It was the same silhouette that Hao had talked with when he was in Izumo. 

'What a surprise. It's really unusual for you to call me,  _Shiro_.'  

'It's not Shiro, it's Hao at the moment. Anyhow, I have a request.' Hao told the silhouette that was standing behind him.

'Oh?'

'I....I want a bit more time with Yoh. As Hao.'

'NO.'

'Fuyuki please-'

'Idiot, I warned you many times not to get emotionally attached!' the person called Fuyuki reprimanded harshly and Hao flinched. 'I should have known that you won't be able to stop yourself from getting emotionally invested with the Asakura family.' He muttered under his breath.

'I'm...I'm sorry.' Hao averted his gaze.

'We're leaving by the end of this week.' 

'But-'

'No buts Shiro, I should not have allowed you to come here in the first place! We're leaving by the end of this week whether you like it or not! Those people are hot on our tails and there is no way I am going to let them to find us.' He hissed.

Hao let out a sigh. 'They are not bad people you know....you make it sound like they are here to kill us.'

There was a loud snort. 'No, but they are not exactly nice people either. At least, two of them aren't.' 

Hao can't refute that.

* * *

The next day.....

'Huh....so they wanted you to return to Izumo?' Hao asked his twin.

'Yeah, but I refused the offer.'

'Why?'

'We're finally able to act like normal siblings so I'm not going to let them take this opportunity away from us just like that. I wanted to spend more time with you but at the same time--.'

'You wanted to tell them about me because you don't want to lie to them, correct?'

'Yeah…' Yoh sighed.

'Yoh!'

_Clash!_

The pointed edge of Harusame pierced on the ground.

 Yoh gripped his bleeding hand. This has been happening more and more frequently ever since Hao started training him. 'Onii-chan, that hurts!'

'Don't daydream when we're training. I could accidentally hurt you.'

'But you're so strict!!!!' Yoh pouted like a five year old.

'If I don't do that you won't progress Yoh.' Hao told him as he held out a helping hand.

'One last round, then we'll go and get something to eat alright?'

'Really?'

'Yes.'

'Alright!'

Right now, they were training together in a wide grassy land that wasn't very far away from the shrine where Hao resides. As the two trained with each other, Luchist, Opacho, Matamune and Manta had watched them from afar.

Since Yoh had been skipping Anna's training, his brother decided to take over temporarily. Unlike Anna whose training were only physically taxing on his body, Hao's training were extremely taxing both physically and mentally. Even though Hao only made him do only two hours worth of training session everyday, Yoh would rather much prefer Anna's training over Hao's any day.

Great Spirits, he can't believe he just thought that.

Hao's training session are dangerously intense as it consists entirely of a one-on-one battle with Hao which was....indescribably nerve wracking and fast paced. Not to mention it also required a huge amount of focus as Hao was not above heavily injuring him. That and the fact he does not stop the spar midway when Yoh started bleeding from those wounds he received from his brothers attack.

'Ahhhhhhhh! A-A-Aniki! Slow down!!!' Yoh cried out as he evaded his attack. Hao's final round is always harsher than usual.

'Then concentrate harder.' Was his reply as he attacked him again with a wooden sword.

'Wahhhhh!' Yoh cried as he turned and ran away from him and into the forest.

Hao sweatdropped and so do the spectators. It was his new tactic to skip Hao's last round of training. He sighed and went towards the audience that had been watching them all the while. They were sitting on the huge rock formation.

'So Hao-kun, what are you going to do now?' Manta asked as he looked down at the long haired shaman.

'We'll find him first then we'll go get something to eat. So, are you coming with us?' Hao asked the boy. He realized that everyone was already standing beside him including Amidamaru.

'Of courseeeeeeeeee! Ahhhhhhhh!' Manta fell from the rock formation.

Hao reacted almost immediately and he jumped high up from the ground. He landed on one of the huge rocks and he jumped swiftly from one rock to another and caught the falling boy before landing gracefully on the ground. The boy's breathing was uneven and his eyes were wide open.

'You shouldn't be so careless you know Oyamada-san. Good thing I caught you in time.' Hao told him. He slowly placed him on the ground and gentle rubbed his back trying to sooth him a little.

After Manta had calmed down, they went to search for Yoh only to find him jumping up and down trying to reach an apple from a huge tree. He turned when he felt their presence.

'Aniki…' Yoh looked at his brother nervously. Manta and the others stared at him warily. He was staring at him with a thoughtful expression. He was probably thinking how to punish the lazy boy. Hao began walking towards his younger brother.

'You want to eat an apple?' Hao asked surprising everyone especially Yoh. Yoh nodded vigorously. He had been jumping all the while trying to reach the apple but to no avail.

Hao nodded and placed down the wooden sword he was holding. At first, he was planning to add another round of training for Yoh but right now he had another plan in his mind…He walked a few steps backwards and Yoh quickly went towards the place where Manta and the others were standing and watched his brother. Hao ran forward and made a jump. He landed on one of the branch and jumped onto a higher branch just like when he was trying to save Manta from falling. He then jumped forward and snatched the apple before landing gracefully on the ground. Yoh stared at his brother awestruck. He quickly ran towards his brother.

'How do you do that?!' he asked. His brother just smiled at him.

'Don't worry, you'll figure it out soon enough.'

'Whatever.' Yoh hated it when his brother refused to tell him things. He took the apple in his brother's hands but before he can take a bite out of it, Hao snatched it back.

'Hey!'

'Now now, I can't let you off the hook so easily can I?'

Yoh gulped. This is a bad sign. Hao threw the apple at Manta who immediately caught it.

'This one is for you, Oyamada-san.'

Manta finally understood his plans and he took a bite out of the apple.

'Aniki…' streams of tears rolled down his cheek as he stared at his friend who was eating the apple.

'You'll have to get one on your own.' Hao said and he went to get another five more apples. He passed it to everyone except for Amidamaru who couldn't catch it. Hence, he gave it to Luchist who offered the apple to Amidamaru so that he can eat with them as well.

'Aniki, what about me…' streams of tears rolled down his cheek as he stared at those that were eating apples.

'Since you escaped the final round of my training,  _this_  is your punishment.' Hao said and took a bite out of his apple.

'But--'

'It will be a harmless training so I see no problem with that. Plus, you'll get something to eat so it's like hitting two birds with one stone.'

'I can't jump that high!'

'Well, if I can then that means you can as well.'

'Waaaaa……' Yoh wailed with tears running down his cheek like twin waterfalls.

* * *

 'Come on Yoh, try harder. It's only been 15 minutes.'

He was really hungry but his brother refused to let him off the hook. He had tried everything he could think of. He had tried using the method Hao had used but he could not reach any of the apples at all for he couldn't jump as high as his brother. He then threw Harusame which ended up stuck between branches. Lastly, he tried to climb the tree but had given up later on.

The reason is really simple.

His leg had been stuck between the branches of the tree trunk.

He could not climb up nor could he climb down. That was why he was now hugging the tree as if it was the most precious thing in the world.

'But I'm starvingggggg!!!!! And my leg got stuck!!!!' he continued wailing and crying. Hao heaved a sigh. He knelt down and reached his hand towards him. He had been standing on top of a branch waiting for his brother to climb up but it seems like it was going to be impossible.

'Alright, I'll help you but just a little.'

'Promise?'

' _Sigh_ …Yes.'

Firstly, Hao teaches Yoh on how to land on the ground from a high place. Then, he slowly teaches him how to make a jump that was high enough to reach the apple. Finally, Yoh had succeeded with Hao's guidance.

'Aniki! I did it!' Yoh exclaimed with joy as he took a bite out of his apple.

'Now that we're finally done, we should get going. They are about to starve to death.'

Finally granted with a break, they all went to a ramen shop and was greeted by a kind looking old woman. As they ate, they chatted among each other about many things mostly about shamanism. Yoh felt contented for he was able to chat with his brother like how many siblings do and he wished that it would never end. However, his happiness didn't last very long. Someone entered the store and Yoh felt the urge to turn and looked at who was coming. He followed his instincts and turned only to meet with many curious yet furious gazes on them. Hao turned as well and his eyes narrowed. Manta, Opacho and Luchist stared at the Asakura twins warily.

It was the Asakura family that had come. Anna and Tamao were there as well.

There was pure silence as they stared at each other with confusing eyes. Yoh was surprised to see both his parents and grandparents and he knew they were the thinking same. Hao meanwhile was having a staring contest with Yohmei. Hao simply stared at him with a blank expression while Yohmei glared at him with fury and hatred. Then, Hao just continued to eat his ramen like nothing had happened. Yoh blinked while Manta and the others stared at him with a surprised look. Yoh then followed his brother and ate his ramen as well and all of them exchanged glances before continued eating. Yohmei and the other Asakura members walked towards another table all the while non-stop gazing at the long haired boy. As Yoh was eating with his brother he could felt that their gazes were still focused on them but he chose to ignore them seeing that his brother had paid no attention to it. He knew he would be in big trouble once he got back home.

After that, both Yoh and Hao decided to go to the mall for god-know-what-reason and Manta and the others decided to just follow them and they were now on the way there with the Asakura's tailing them from behind. Both twins walked slowly and calmly as they remained silent on the way. Once in a while, Manta would take a quick glance at the Asakura's that were following them from behind.

'Yoh-kun, they are still following us.'

'I know…'

After 20 to 30 minutes later, they arrived at the entrance of the mall. The mall was really crowded and many people were going in and out of the mall. As soon as Manta stepped into the mall, Yoh carried him up while Hao carried Opacho up and the two broke into a run with their guardian spirits floating behind them. The Asakura's immediately chased after the two. Luchist meanwhile stood at the entrance rooted on the spot.

'Yoh-kun!'

'Sorry Oyamada-san, this was the most crowded place that we could think of to escape from them. Plus, we don't want to fight.' Hao told him as they both ran up the escalator pushing people on the way.

'Bear with us Manta!' Yoh said and the two went ran towards the auditorium and glide their way into the crowd.

The Asakura's lost sight of them as it was too crowded and their heights had hid them from easily being seen. Meanwhile, Manta and Opacho slowly crawl out of the crowd followed by Yoh and Hao. Then, they twins carried the smaller child behind their backs and sprinted off from the crowded place before running inside a shop. Mikihisa saw the running boys and recognized Yoh's training attire. He ran towards that direction followed by Keiko. They ran past an extremely tall man with moustache who pointed to the left direction and ran following the direction. Suddenly, Mikihisa came to a stop and turned to the direction where he had seen the tall man. The tall man had become short and the coat he was wearing was way too big for his size and Hao was running beside him with the hat of the tall man on his head and Opacho sitting on his shoulders. The tall man who had become short turned and they saw Manta who was sitting on Yoh shoulders underneath the coat. In other words, Mikihisa and Keiko got tricked. They both ran towards the boys who took a turn at the corner. They took a turn at the corner and both Yoh and Hao was nowhere to be seen. They stood on the same spot and their gaze travelled all over the place searching for the boys.

Suddenly, Mikihisa saw two children at the higher floor. He pointed towards that direction and Keiko followed the direction of his fingers. They were up there running into the car parking lot via the entrance. They ran up the escalator and chased after the boy. They halted when they arrived at the entrance and looked everywhere for the boys. They found them and ran towards their direction and thus caught them.

'Caught you.' Mikihisa said and they both turned the two boys to face them only to meet with another person.

'MOMMY!' both of them wailed.

* * *

At the exit of the mall, the twins ran out with Opacho and Manta. They ran to a park nearby and the younger twin sat on the bench with Manta and Opacho.

'Whew…that was close.' Yoh told his brother as he gasped for air.

'Real close I have to say.' Hao patted him on the back trying to sooth him a little. He wasn't even breaking a sweat after the long run.

'And I thought we're gonna get caught but it was the other way round.' Manta said and they burst out laughing.

'Yeah, and I got this as well.' Yoh held out a small film strip with their pictures on it.

When they took a turn at the corner, Yoh caught a glimpse of a photo booth and he pulled his brother into the booth to take a few pictures. When they got out of the booth, they saw Keiko and Mikihisa running to the parking lot and they took the opportunity to escape from the mall.

'Now that they are gone, let's go get some snacks.' Yoh said and they all agreed. Just then, a car speed towards and stopped in front of them. Mikihisa and Keiko got out of the car and pulled Yoh into the car with Manta before speeding off.

'Yoh!' Hao exclaimed and ran after a car but another car stopped him. 

'Hao-sama, get in!' Luchist called after his master who immediately went into the car.

* * *

'What are you doing?! Aniki!' Yoh yelled frantically as he turned to stare at the car behind but was being pulled back to his seat by Keiko.

'Yoh, that demon had poisoned your mind!' Yohmei yelled at his grandson.

'He's not a demon! Don't call him that!' Yoh shot back.

'What did that demon do to you?! Mikihisa, go faster!' he exclaimed with fury.

'Yes, tou-san.'

* * *

'Damn him.' Hao said to no one in particular as he heard their conversation through mind-reading.

'What's wrong Hao-sama? What did they say?'

'Not much, just that I poisoned my little Otouto's mind that's all.'

'Eh?!'

'They're speeding up Luchist.'

'Understood.'

* * *

  **['Gyahhh! Aniki, you've got to get me out of here!']** Yoh yelled at his brother's mind causing him to wince slightly.

 **['I'm trying! So, stop yelling!']** Hao thought back.

**[If you don't, I'll never be able to see you again! EVER!!!]**

**['What?! You've got to be kidding!']**

**['There going to ground me in Izumo! HELP ME!']** Yoh yelled so loudly that Hao clutched his head in pain.

'Luchist, I'll drive.' Hao told the man surprising him.

'What?!'

'I can drive if that's what you are trying to ask. Is there any problem with that?' Hao answered as he read his mind.

'N-No.'

Hao slowly switched place with his comrade without losing control of the vehicle and at the same time without losing sight of the car in front of them. After switching place, Hao speed up Luchist's car and nearly crashed the car in front of them. Of course, he didn't since he knew his brother was at the back seat and he was using Luchist's car. He opened the car window on his side and rested his elbow on the window and rested his head on the palm of his hand as he drove left and right trying to take over the car in front. The strong wind blew against his long hair as he drove with incredulous speed.

* * *

'Mikihisa, faster will you! The demon nearly crashed us from behind!' Yohmei exclaimed.

'Don't worry, Yohmei-sama. He won't crash us at all.' Anna replied nonchalantly causing everyone to direct their attention to her except the driver.

'He only wants Yoh and coincidentally, Yoh was sitting at the back seat so if he were to do it, Yoh might get killed as well. Therefore, he has only one option which is to overcome us.' Anna replied casually.

As soon as Anna finished her last words, the car stopped abruptly as Hao managed to overcome them and stopped in front. Mikihisa reversed the car immediately and speed off again. Of course, Hao did the same and chased after the car.

'Curse that demon. Mikihisa, can't you go faster?!' Yohmei said furiously.

'Sorry Otou-san but we're at the fastest speed already.'

* * *

'Something's not right.'

'What's wrong Hao-sama?' Opacho asked. Hao's brow furrowed and Luchist's stared at the front with a serious expression.

'That route…it's leading to a dead end.' Both of them said in unison.

* * *

**['Yoh, stop them quick!']**

**['What?! I can't stop them!']**

**['If you don't you're all going to die.']**

**['What do you mean?!']**

**['That route…IT LEADS TO A DEAD END!']**

Yoh eyes widened.

'Dad, stop the car immediately!'

'What?!' Yohmei exclaimed.

'Stop the car!'

'NO!' Yohmei yelled at Mikihisa.

* * *

'It's no use. They won't listen to him.'

'What should we do then?' Luchist asked.

'I don't have a choice. I have to stop chasing them by car or they'll be going to heaven.'

'What do you mean Hao-sama?' both Opacho and Luchist asked in a panicking tone.

'Just wait and you'll see what I meant.' Hao said and pulled the handbrake of the car.

* * *

'He stopped.' Yohmei said. Mikihisa turned to the back as well and stared at Hao in disbelief. He was coming out of the car with a steering wheel lock in his hand.

'Oh no.' Yoh's eyes widened in fear.

They turned back on the road and their faces turned pale. They were no longer at the road. They were driving in a wooden jetty heading straight towards the sea in high speed. In other words, they're in big trouble…

'DAD, STOP!!!' Yoh yelled desperately. However, his father had lost control of the vehicle causing the whole car to plunge into the sea. Water began to seep in slowly as they tried to find a way to get out of the car.

Hao and his two comrades ran towards the place where the incident had taken place a few minutes ago.

'I'm going to get Yoh and the idiot Asakuras. Luchist, you and Opacho wait for me at the mansion. I'll be back as soon as I'm done.' Hao told the two and dive into the cold water.

As soon as he had immersed himself into the icy water, he swam towards the vehicle and knocked on the window with his hands gaining everyone's attention. Yohmei glared at him. 

 

**['I'm going to break the windows. Tell everyone to brace themselves.']**

**['No! We'll get cut by the broken glass! Can't you pry the door open?!']**

Even though the view under the sea was slightly obstructed Yoh could still see Hao rolling his eyes underwater. **['You can't open the car door until the pressure is equalized on both inside and outside of the car Yoh.']**

 **['Oh.']** Yoh grinned sheepishly whileHao shook his head. He made a shooing gesture and held up the steering wheel lock like a baseball bat.

'Yoh, what is he doing?!' Yohmei exclaimed.

'He's going to break the window! Everyone get ready to hold your breaths!'

'How do you know he's going to break the car not us?!' Mikihisa asked his son.

'I just know it! Move to the side!' Yoh yelled.

'No!' Yohmei exclaimed.

'Jii-san move!' Yoh pulled him towards the side and just as Hao smashed one of the passenger windows into bits. Huge torrents of water gushed forth into the car. Hao went to break the windows at the front while Yoh heaved Anna and Yohmei out of the car first before pushing himself out past the water currents. 

Mikihisa helped Keiko and Kino the same way Yoh did before swimming out of the car. By then, the three Asakura's who escaped are already swimming up to the surface. Rather, Anna and Yoh are supporting Yohmei and heaving him up to the surface as they swam up.

Similarly, Keiko and Mikihisa placed Kino's hand over their shoulders to support her and swam up to the surface. Hao helped an almost out of breath Manta out of the car to resurface before trailing behind. Suddenly, he stopped when he felt his intuition ringing in the back of his mind. He made to turn back and gave the car a final check in case they missed out someone.

He was glad he did.

They actually did miss out someone.

* * *

'Achoo!' Manta sneezed as he was being pulled out of the water.

'Where's Nii-san?' Yoh asked warily.

'I don't know. He was just behind me when we're coming up but when I got here he's gone.'

'Thank god everyone's alright.' Mikihisa said and heaved a sigh.

'Wait.' Keiko said suddenly. She looked around the place increasingly panicky.

'Where's…Tamao?' she uttered and everyone realized the absence of the pink haired girl.

'Oh no…' Mikihisa ran towards the edge of the platform yelling 'TAMAO!!!'

'cough cough…I'm right here Mikihisa-sama.' A voice said suddenly and he Mikihisa stopped just before he made the leap.

Hao was slowly patting her back. Mikihisa quickly ran towards the girl followed by Ponchi and Konchi. Hao backed away knowing the girl would be receiving help and comfort from the family. They were all focusing their attention on Tamao when Yoh suddenly cried out.

'Onii-chan, what happened?!' 

Hao gave him a questioning stare. The Asakura's have began to look at him with a surprised expression. Tamao covered her mouth with her hands.

'What?'

'Y-Y-Your hair…' Yoh pointed out.

Hao eyes widened and he quickly held up a cluster of his hair. It has streaks of white on it.

'Sh**!' Hao ran away and left the place immediately even though he heard Yoh calling out to him. He managed to snatch the black coat that he was very sure Luchist had left for him on purpose and covered himself with it on the way.

'Aniki, wait!' Yoh cried out but was again ignored.

'Go ahead Yoh, we'll catch up with you.' Keiko told his son. Yoh turned to her for a moment before grinning. He gave a nod. 'Thanks Kaa-san!'

'I'll go with you.' Manta interrupted and followed his best friend. Yoh nodded and both ran towards the direction where Hao had just left.

'So, what are we going to do?' Anna asked bluntly.

Everyone shifted their gaze to the head of Asakura family.

'We'll…follow him.' Yohmei said hesitantly.

* * *

 

He heard footsteps pacing up behind him. He glanced over his shoulders and saw Yoh and Manta chasing after him. He began to speed up. Suddenly, Yoh jumped passed him from tree to tree and stopped in front of him. Normally, he would have been proud but right now, all he could think of was that he really regretted training his younger brother this morning. Meanwhile, the younger boy was glad he had trained him harshly today.

'Onii-san, what's going on?' He stared at his brother worriedly.

'Nothing's wrong. Everything is just fine.'

He took a step forward and his brother immediately took a step back.

'I said I'm fine!' Hao insisted. 'Just...just stay away!'

'But you're-'

'Just stay away from me!' He pulled Luchist's coat tighter around himself. Why? Why must it act up now out of all times? 

'Nii-chan....' Yoh started tentatively. 'It's okay. I just want to help. You looked...' Yoh trailed off. What was he supposed to say? His brother's hair was completely white now and he was now looking so pale and limp like he was going to faint at any moment. '....You looked awful.' Yoh finally said and Hao snorted at that. Yoh slowly took a step forward again but Hao had stepped back instantly.

'Yoh, just stay away and leave me alone. I really can't talk right now and I really need to-' Hao gasped and doubled over, his hand grasping his chest.

'NII-CHAN!'

'STAND BACK!' Yoh froze involuntarily. From the time he came back to life, Hao had never raise his voice at him like that. Seeing Yoh's hurt expression, Hao felt a bit guilty despite the gnawing pain in his chest and straightened up.

'Yoh...I just....I need to go okay?' Hao muttered, this time a lot calmer.

'But-'

'No, I have to go NOW.' Hao emphasized.

'What's the rush? It's not like you to be so impatient, Hao.'

Hao didn't need to turn to know who was behind him.

'Anna?' Yoh stared at his future bride.

'It's none of your concern.' He said without turning to her.

'Are you that desperate that you'll leave even Yoh? Weren't you dying to get him back from us just now?' Anna asked sarcastically.

Hao twitched slightly but didn't respond. Yoh's brow furrowed in concern. Was it him or was Hao....shaking?

'Or…was it all just a lie to turn him into  _your_  tool?'

Hao swiftly turned to face Anna, eyes flashing in a sort of unbridled anger that almost made the itako take a step back.  

'Watch your speech KYOYAMA ANNA! Even if I were to treat people in a cruel manner, I would NEVER bend that low!' Hao growled.

Not expecting such a vehement response, it actually took Anna a few moments to regain her composure. 'Then, what was the problem now? Why can't you wait?' Anna asked coldly.

'It's not him who couldn't wait. It was his powers that couldn't wait.' A voice replied out of the blue surprising everyone.

Hao's eyes snapped wide.

'You're...' Hao swayed slightly and collapsed shocking everyone. Yoh ran hastily towards his brother with Manta following behind him. After that, he knelt down and removed the coat he was wearing. His face was so white he looked almost like a ghost. 

'Didn't Nakamura-sensei tell you not to stay too long in the water?' another voice asked in an irritated tone.

'I guess it can be helped. Yuu-nii has always been stubborn.' A childish voice said.

They came out of the shadows and Keiko recognized two out of the five figures.

'You're the ones I met at Izumo!' Keiko said in surprise.

'Mom, Miss Asakura is here.' Sara pointed out to her.

'Do you know them?' Yohmei asked.

'Not really. I just met them once.' Keiko answered hesitantly. The woman smiled making Keiko more at ease.

'We'll do the talking later Sara. Right now, we have other work to do.' The woman told her daughter and nodded to Hao who was lying limp on the floor.

' _Sigh_ …he's always causing so much trouble.' Another girl said. She has brownish hair tied up in a pigtail at the left side of her head.

'No worries. After all, he's very light so it's pretty easy to carry him. Unlike you!' The only male of the five said as he lifted Hao with ease.

'Hey!'

'Exactly when will you two stop arguing?' a girl with long blond hair tied up in French braid style muttered under her breath.

Suddenly, the male turned to Yoh with an irritated expression. Yoh simply blinked in confusion.

'Fuyuki, I know you always drag Yuu down into deep water but must you do it literally?' he chided.

'Eh?' Yoh was getting confused.

' _Sigh_ …You just  _love_  to torture your brother don't you Fuyuki?' the girl with brownish hair said.

Both of them were given a smack on the head by the blond haired girl. Despite her height, she could actually reach their head.

'He's not Fuyuki you idiots.' The blond haired girl hissed.

'Eh?' the male exclaimed.

'T-Then who are you?' the girl with pigtails pointed at Yoh.

'I'm-' Yoh was abruptly cut off by someone unexpected.

'Yoh-san, is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Yukino.' The blond girl shook his hand.

'H-How do you know me?' Yoh asked in surprise.

Yukino shrugged. 'He called you Yoh.'

'Besides, Yuu would never mistake Fuyuki for anyone else.' Yukino muttered under her breath.

'Who are you?!' Anna demanded.

'I think we'll explain all this later. Right now, your brother desperately needs treatment.' she said and turned to Hao.

A white limousine stopped in front of them.

'We'll be waiting here.'

'Umm...currently, we don't have our own transport.' Yoh said and grinned sheepishly. Sayuri blinked.

'How about taking a ride with us?' the woman with blond hair and blue eyes asked. 'We have a lot of space for guests. Plus, you're going to get ill if you don't get changed soon.'

Yoh turned to the others and saw their drenched state.

'Thank you.'

* * *

 

'Woah…you guys actually lived here?' Yoh's gaze travelled around the mansion.

The white limousine was already impressive enough. Unlike the Asakura mansion, it was a modernized mansion with exquisite design. Plus, they were greeted by many servants who stood in two rows beside the red carpet which was leading to the entrance of the house. As they were walking into the living hall, someone called out.

'Mistress Sayuri.' A teenage girl with formal clothing was walking towards them. The woman with blond hair and blue eyes turned to her.

'Tsuzuki-sama would like to see you.'

'Alright, I wanted to tell him some good news as well.' the woman who went by the name of Sayuri walked away with the other girl and stopped abruptly before turning to the direction where Yoh and the others were standing.

'You kids get along with our guest okay?' she said.

'Okay!' the girl named Sara said childishly and the woman left the place.

'Come on in!' Sara said and pulled Yoh's hand urging him to follow.

'Sara, Yukino, behave. Kaoru and I will be back in a few minutes.' Shinichi said and carried Hao away. Kaoru followed behind.

After changing into new clothing given, they were lead by Sara and Yukino to the living room and were now sitting together.

'Ummm…Sara was it?' Keiko asked.

'Yes. Is there anything you want to ask? Ah! I forgot! Yukino-chan, call the girls to prepare some tea.'

'Okay.' She went towards one of the two servants that was standing in the room and said something to her. The two then left the room and closed the door before they left. Yukino went towards Sara and sat beside her.

'So, what was it you're trying to ask Miss Asakura?'

'Why are you calling Hao…Yuu?'

There was silence as Sara exchanged glances with Yukino before turning to them.

'Who's Hao?' the two asked in unison. The Asakura's looked at them in surprise.

'He's the demon that you brought home.' Yohmei replied simply. Sara's eyes narrowed but within the next moment she was all smiles again.

'Ehhhhhh...Demon you say?' Sara asked with an overly cheerful smile that send chills down their spine.

 

Anna's eyes narrowed into slits. There had been a slight change in the atmosphere. If she had not been on guard, she would not have realized it.

Suddenly the door opened revealing the male and the girl with pigtails.

'We're back.' They said and took a seat beside Sara.

'So, what were you talking about just now?' the male asked.

'Nothing.' Yukino replied nonchalantly.

'O..kay… then, we'll just start with the introductions.' He said.

'My name is Shinichi and she's Kaoru.' he pointed to the girl with pigtails who waved cheerfully at them.

'The two girls as you may have known are Sara and Yukino.' He said as he pointed at them.

'So, what is your name?' he asked Yoh.

'Well, I'm Asakura Yoh. this is my mother Keiko Asakura and this is my dad Mikihisa Asakura. That one was my grandmother Asakura Kino and the other one was my grandfather Asakura Yohmei. That boy is my friend Oyamada Manta. The pink haired girl with the kokkuri is Tamao and the other girl is Anna.'

'His fiancée.' Anna added.

Silence…

'F-F-FIANCEE?' Kaoru exclaimed.

'AT THIS YOUNG AGE?' Shinichi continued. Yoh blushed.

'Who would have though planned marriage still existed...' Yukino mumbled.

'Maybe its an Asakura family tradition…' There was a teasing glint in Shinichi's eyes. 'I mean, you're also technically engag-'

Yukino kicked him in the shin.

'Urusai!' Yukino's cheeks turned pinkish.

Just then, they heard a few knocks on the door and both quickly went back to their original/formal position.

'Ahem ahem…come in.' Shinichi said politely.

The two servants came in with a tray of tea in their hands. They slowly placed it on the table and when they were done they went out of the room.

'Sorry about that.' He told his guests.

'So what have you been talking about? You wouldn't have remained silent all the while right?' Kaoru asked.

'Fine. We're talking about Yuu.'

'Really? What is it about?' Kaoru asked enthusiastically.

'Yuu-nii's other name was Hao and for some unknown reason they call him...demon.' Sara replied a little too casually.

The atmosphere shifted completely. The siblings all regarded the Asakura family akin to predator gazing at its prey.

Anna subtly gripped her beads. Even though it had been a very short moment, Anna had detected it this time. That killing intent was unmistakable. She gazed at those siblings. 

This family is not normal!

 

* * *

He blinked for a moment. After a while, his view began to clarify and he saw two figures looking down at him. He recognized the long brown hair and that green eyes of one of the figure. He also recognized the blue eyes and the blond haired figure. In fact, he recognized the two figures way too well.

'Sayuri-san, Tsuzuki-sama.' Hao said softly.

' _Sigh_ …you don't need to address us so formally.' The man said as he helped him to sit up.

'Anyway, it's been quite a while Yuu.' The man ruffled his hair.

'Y-You're messing my hair.' Hao said as he blushed.

'You know, he immediately came here as soon as he knew of your arrival.' Sayuri said and smiled. Hao blushed even more.

'S-Sorry.' He said and lowered his head.

'It's fine.'

'Alright, now that we know you're fine we should get going. Our guests are waiting.' Sayuri reminded.

'Guests? Which guest?' Hao stared at them questioningly. The two smiled at him.

'Your family of course.'

His face turned pale.

Fuyuki is so going to kill him for this.

* * *

 

Silence once again engulfed the place. They stared incredulously at their guest's that was sitting opposite to them.

'If you don't mind me asking...Why would you address Yuuji as such?' Shinichi inquired. His tone of voice isn't cold but it isn't completely friendly either.

'Because he is one! He had mercilessly murdered thousands of people for more than a thousand years! He is a disgrace to our family! I will never acknowledge him as a part of my family. NEVER!' Yohmei cried out.

 **'Right. Because a kid who have yet to reach 20 years of age would definitely be able to accomplish that.'** Shinichi, Kaoru, Yukino and Sara thought in their minds.

 

'Ah....I see.' Kaoru replied. She made a circling motion at the side of her head using her index finger. Comprehension dawned on them all.

'Ahhh...' Sara nodded.

'I see...' Yukino muttered.

'That certainly explains it!' Shinichi said snapping his fingers.

'I'm afraid you have mistaken him for another person. Don't worry, it happens all the time with Fuyuki anyway.' Kaoru told Yohmei.

'I would never mistake that demon for another person!' Yohmei exclaimed, his face purple with rage. They merely brushed him off, fully convinced that he had completely mistook Hao for someone else.

'Who's this Fuyuki?' Yoh asked earning an incredulous stare from them.

'That wasn't funny Yoh-san.' Kaoru told him laughing nervously.

'Of course…I'm serious about it.' Yoh replied.

Shinichi's jaw dropped while the others looked at him in utter surprise.

'You've got to be kidding!' Kaoru cried out.

'He's your older brother!' Shinichi yelled.

'What? B-But I only have one brother.'

There was another silence…

'WHAT?' all of them exclaimed.

'T-That's impossible!'

'You see…Yoh and Hao were twin brothers and they were-' Keiko was abruptly cut off.

'T-TWIN BROTHERS?' Kaoru exclaimed.

'You mean you're not his younger brother?' Shinichi added.

'SILENCE!' Yukino exclaimed.

'Calm down. We'll sort things out one-by-one so stop making things complicated. Let them explain first.' Yukino told the two and urge Keiko to continue with her explanation.

The Asakura's began to explain about Hao's thousand years of living and his plans of creating a shaman world earning incredulous stares from all of them. They also explained to them about the shaman tournament and what had happened all the way until the fight between Yoh and Hao.

'So that's what happened.' Kaoru said with a thoughtful expression.

'It's strange.' Shinichi said gaining everyone's attention.

'What's wrong Shinichi?' Kaoru asked.

'You see, when we found Yuu, Fuyuki was already there but all the while he was never mentioned. Plus, Yoh and Yuu were twin brothers so Fuyuki was never born. Then, where did he come from? How did he actually exist when he wasn't even born in the first place?'

'Exactly who is this Fuyuki? What does he have to do with my brother?' Yoh asked them.

They turned their attention towards the boy with a serious expression.

'Yoh-san, I know this would sound a little bit insane but at first, we all thought that he was your older brother's…twin.' Shinichi said admitted.

Everyone gasped.

'After the tournament between you and your brother, we found him unconscious with another person right beside him. That person was who we called Fuyuki.' Yukino told them.

'When the two had regained consciousness, their memories were totally lost so we have no clue as to who they are and what happened to them. Seeing no other option, we decided to adopt the two.' Kaoru added.

'Due to their striking resemblance, we assumed that they were twins. We all assumed that Yuu was the older of the two since he portrays the personality of a brother more than Fuyuki.' Shinichi continued.

There were dropped jaws and gasps as the words slowly registered their mind. Anna, Yoh, and Manta were the only ones who had shown no reaction so far.

'Although the two looked really alike, they both have terribly different personalities.' Sara interrupted and the others once again nodded in agreement.

'In your point of view, Yuu was a demon that threatened to kill every single human on earth to create a shaman empire. I have lived with him for a while and I can tell you that he was definitely NOT a demon. In my opinion, Yuu was more of a naïve boy with a matured personality.' Shinichi told them earning incredulous stares from the Asakura's except for Yoh.

'and an adorable friend!' Sara chirped in.

'and an adorable friend.' Shinichi repeated. There were dropped jaws and gasps once again except for Yoh and Manta who smiled while Anna remained expressionless.

'Well, as for Fuyuki, he has a devil-may-care personality and always causes Yuu many troubles. He would always do the easy work and gave Yuu all the hard work. Still, I wouldn't call him a demon because even if he was a little cruel towards Yuu, he won't go over the line. Besides that, he would always help Yuu when he's in danger and he's always with Yuu when his brother needed someone most. That's when Fuyuki acted more like an older brother.' Kaoru told them.

'Up till now, we still couldn't figure out who's the elder of the two. Neither of them told us anything about themselves. All we can do is to assume.' Yukino said and sighed.

'Wait, if he had no memories of himself, how would he know we're his family?' Yohmei asked.

'That's because his memories have just recovered.' Yoh answered and everyone shifted their gaze towards the younger Asakura.

'Yoh, do you know something about this?' Mikihisa asked.

'Not much. We both know his amnesic because he already told us about it but he had never mentioned anything about this boy named Fuyuki.' Manta told them.

'Besides that, I once asked him why he had revived those he had killed and he just told us that it was to fulfill a promise. Sounds weird isn't it?' Yoh told them and grinned.

'Fulfill a promise you say?' Kaoru asked gaining their attention.

'Yeah…honestly, I don't think Nii-san was someone who'll fulfill his promises. The one who made that promise with him must be someone he really treasured.' Yoh responded and his smile grew wider.

'Indeed.' Shinichi said and they gave Yukino a meaningful look.

* * *

 

'No.' they said in unison.

'Eh?'

'Nakamura-sensei said you need a lot of rest.' Sayuri told the pyro shaman.

'B-But I'm fine already.' Hao struggled to get out of his bed but they pushed him back onto his bed.

'Now now, don't be so stubborn…unless you want me to tie you down-'

'Sayuri!' Tsuzuki called out in alarm.

Sayuri froze. She turned to Hao who looked completely stiff, his grip on the blanket so tight it turned his knuckles white.

'I'm sorry! I didn't mean...I wasn't...'

Hao forced himself to relax. 'Its...its fine. You don't have to apologize.' He sighed tiredly. 'You know what? I think I'll take a nap.' He decided.

Sayuri turned to Tsuzuki who looked just as helpless.  

'There are servants outside so, if you need anything, just call them.' Tsuzuki said awkwardly. Hao nodded.

The two went out of the room and closed the door carefully.

'He's asleep?' a voice asked.

They turned and was unsurprised to find an exact copy of Hao leaning against the wall, standing there waiting for them.

'So you've finally revealed yourself, Fuyuki.' Sayuri said.


End file.
